


Optimal Shift Point

by jonibeloni (Joni_Beloni), jonius_belonius (Joni_Beloni)



Category: Suits (US TV)
Genre: A Smidgen of Bad Behavior, An Actual Trial, Angst, BDSM, Drama, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2019-04-24 05:08:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 40,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14348601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joni_Beloni/pseuds/jonibeloni, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joni_Beloni/pseuds/jonius_belonius
Summary: When Harvey’s latest case pits him against Evan Smith, he anticipates their dealings moving beyond the courtroom, and into the bedroom. However, he meets her associate, Mike Ross, first, and immediately alters his plans, but it soon becomes clear that Mike is more entangled with Evan than Harvey realized.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Loyalty2WayStreet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loyalty2WayStreet/gifts).



> Thanks to Loyalty2WayStreet for bidding on me in the Fandom Trumps Hate 2018 Auction. And thanks for inspiring me with a great prompt which swelled my planned word count of ~8k to 40k+... which explains why this also took a bit longer to complete than I intended. I hope you like it!

Harvey Specter signed Marsh Motors as a client his second year at Pearson Hardman. Marsh was a new company struggling to survive, and he was a young associate, seeking to make his mark. He’d seen something special in their ambitious prototype. Although it would be over a decade in development, he’d taken a chance with them, and never regretted it.

His relationship with Nathaniel Marsh went beyond mere business. They had a standing, monthly dinner date, and regularly attended sporting events together. Harvey had been best man at Nathaniel’s third wedding and had been invited to his daughter’s first wedding a year later. Harvey knew Nathaniel to be a good man – well, mostly good, except for his wandering eye when it came to women. His line of automobiles, which he had finally put on the market two years ago, were high-quality, innovative pieces of art.

Which is why, when Nathaniel barged into his office with the news that a class action law suit had been initiated against his company, Harvey tossed aside the contract he’d been reviewing for another client and gave Nathaniel his full attention.

“Tell me everything. What’s their basis?”

“That string of accidents last year. One person died, another ended up in a wheelchair, and several others were badly injured. We were forced to recall close to a thousand vehicles. We agreed to pay for all their out-of-pocket medical expenses, but now they want more.”

“Refresh my memory. It was an issue with the transmission, right?” Harvey remembered well enough, but wanted to hear Nathaniel’s spin on it.

“Which we’ve since corrected. And which never would have occurred if one of our suppliers hadn’t been selling us defective parts.”

Harvey tapped his pen on the desk, thinking. “Who is representing the plaintiffs?”

“Evan Smith, of Hackett, Cropper and Klein.”

“I don’t believe I’ve crossed paths with him before.”

“Her. Trust me, you’d remember her if you met her. She’s absolutely gorgeous, and a real ball-buster.”

Harvey found himself immediately intrigued. Based solely on Nathaniel’s brief description, she sounded like a woman with whom it might be fun to tangle – and not just in the courtroom. “Well, don’t worry. I’m not going to let her bust yours. I’ll set a meeting as soon as possible and see what I can do about making this lawsuit to go away.”

Nathaniel stood, grasping Harvey’s hand in both of his. “Thanks, Harvey. I know you’ll take care of things. If not, the potential settlement payouts would ruin us.” Before he left, he gave Harvey a shrewd look. “Watch yourself with Evan Smith. Something tells me she’d be just your type.”

“Me?” He strove to appear as innocent as possible, but Harvey suspected Nathaniel wasn’t buying it for a second. “Get involved with opposing counsel? Not my style.” He didn’t mention that he had been involved with Dana Scott while she was on the opposite side of a merger. That didn’t really count, since he’d known her long before that. “As soon as I get the case dropped, however, all bets are off. Is she really that hot?”

“As the surface of the sun. If I wasn’t married, I’d take a run at her myself.”

Harvey frowned thoughtfully as he walked Nathanial to the elevator. It bothered him that he didn’t know anything about this Evan Smith, having never heard of her before. Hackett, Cropper and Klein had a reputation for playing rough, though.

Back outside his office, he waited for Donna to end her phone call.

“I need you – ”

“To set a meeting with Evan Smith? Already done. She can see you tomorrow morning at ten.”

He gave her a nod of thanks and went to Google Evan Smith. He’d need to be thoroughly prepared if he wanted to get the upper hand in their meeting. The photographs of her alone were enough to have him licking his lips in anticipation.

 

******

 

Harvey was kept cooling his heels in the conference room for nearly half an hour. His sharp anticipation of the meeting faded, and then vanished entirely, replaced with spiking irritation. He was tempted to walk out, to show Evan Smith he would not be trifled with in this way, but that wouldn’t do Nathaniel or Marsh Motors any good. Deciding he would wait another ten minutes, but no longer, he paced in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, ignoring the magnificent view of the city as he fumed.

By the time the door opened, and a young man walked in, Harvey had worked himself into a cold, seething rage.

“Who the hell are you?” he snarled, before the other could speak.

Evan’s proxy looked too young to be an attorney. Almost as tall as Harvey, he was slender to the point of appearing underfed. Intelligence lived in his soft blue eyes, though, and a shrewdness which clashed with his air of youthful naivety. Harvey brutally suppressed the flash of attraction he felt for what was likely Evan's flunky. He was precisely Harvey’s type when it came to men, and seeing him nearly succeeded in banishing lingering thoughts of Evan’s hotness, and his plans for her.

He ordered himself to get a grip, and remain focused on his client, Marsh Motors.

Instead of responding in kind to Harvey’s surly greeting, the young man extended a hand toward him. “So sorry to keep you waiting. Evan has been called away on urgent business and can’t meet with you today. I’m Mike Ross, her associate.”

Harvey narrowed his eyes as he took a closer look at Mike Ross. Sending him to the meeting in her place was an obvious power play on Evan’s part, meant to put Harvey off-balance, and signal her disdain for his worthiness as an adversary. It would take more than that to throw him off his game. He’d invented this move.

After a pause which was just this side of rude, he grasped Mike’s offered hand and shook it. Harvey schooled his face to not reveal the effect Mike’s touch had on him. He couldn’t tell if Mike had felt it too, but judging by his reaction – or lack of one – he had not.

“How long have you been practicing law?” asked Harvey, voice dripping with scorn. “Assuming you are an attorney?”

Mike bit back a sigh. “Nearly three months.”

“Oh, that long?” Harvey laughed meanly. “Did you come here to tell me you’re dropping the lawsuit? Because if you’re here for any other reason, this meeting is over. I don’t negotiate with underlings.” Which was kind of a shame, since he was a nice-looking kid, and just the sort that Harvey would like to drag home and take his time with, if not for his rule regarding opposing counsel. His not-so-hard-and-fast rule, he amended.

Instead of wilting beneath Harvey’s contempt, Mike smiled blandly back at him. “Your client is responsible for the death of one man, and grievous injury to numerous others. That’s not even mentioning the emotional suffering. So, no. We won’t be dropping the suit.”

“Then I guess there’s nothing more to say.” Harvey thrust his hands in his pockets and took one step toward the door.

“Wait.”

Was that a note of desperation he heard in Mike’s voice? Harvey arched an eyebrow. “Is Ms. Smith suddenly free after all?”

“No. She handed off this meeting to me. It’s my responsibility. So, can we just …” He gestured at one of the chairs, face pinched with what looked like worry. “Can we just sit and talk for a few minutes?”

Experience told Harvey he should say no and walk out as he’d intended. Something in Mike’s pleading expression, and that little hint of panic in his voice, stopped him. Curious, he sank onto the chair. After the briefest of hesitations, Mike took the seat across from him.

“Tell me, Mr. Specter – ”

“Harvey.”

Mike lifted both brows at that, but gave a quick nod. “Okay. Sure. Harvey. Why don’t you tell me how your client thinks he can explain away seven virtually identical accidents, which occurred in the space of less than six months? The primary cause in each was established as a failure in the transmission. We both know that Marsh Motors develops and manufactures every vehicle it puts on the road.”

“True. However, they also outsourced some of the more specialized parts. For example, they purchased output speed sensors from Gilhart Manufacturing. Turns out, those sensors were faulty.”

“Marsh should have done quality control on the sensors.”

“And they did, at Gilhart’ s factory, before the parts were shipped. We have proof that Gilhart switched the good sensors for refurbished, faulty ones, in order to save themselves somewhere in the neighborhood of fifty thousand dollars.”

Mike gave him a level stare, digesting this information. “Gilhart Manufacturing grosses close to a billion dollars a year, and you’re trying to tell me they put people’s lives in danger for a paltry fifty thousand?”

It shouldn’t have impressed Harvey so much that Mike could spit out this information without consulting any notes, but it did. “We believe some localized graft took place within the shipping department.”

“Uh huh. You believe.”

He nearly let out a delighted laugh at Mike’s narrowed eyes, and the exaggerated sarcasm in his voice. The kid had a certain spark, and he was whip-smart, which Harvey found even more appealing than his tight, fuckable ass, which was saying something.

Harvey’s mouth stretched into a wolfish smile. “As I said, we have proof.”

“What proof, exactly?”

“We’ve located a former employee willing to testify that the switch took place.”

“Ah. Let me see if I have this right. In an effort to save their asses, Marsh Motors, and you, scrounged up some disgruntled former Gilhart employee, and bribed him to make up this ridiculous story. How am I doing?”

“You’d better hear what he has to say before you go throwing around any further libelous allegations. I think you’ll find him more than credible.”

Uncertainty crept into Mike’s eyes. He bit his lip, appearing to think rapidly. “We’ll want to depose him as soon as possible, of course.”

“Of course.”

“If his story turns out to be credible, as you say, then maybe we can come to some sort of agreement. Marsh Motors – in the person of Nathaniel Marsh – would have to agree to cooperate, and provide evidence against Gilhart.”

“I know Nathaniel, and I can all but guarantee that he would be amenable to that. He takes immense pride in his automobiles, and Gilhart screwed with his brand, big time.”

“And caused death and injury. Allegedly.”

“That, too. Plus, let’s be honest: Gilhart can be tapped for much bigger payouts than Marsh.”

“The main thing we should all be focused on is getting the victims the help they need going forward.”

Shaking his head, Harvey let out a cynical chuckle. “Didn’t Harvard manage to train that idealistic streak out of you?”

Mike’s expression shuttered. “I didn’t go to Harvard.” At Harvey’s raised eyebrows, he clarified, “Hackett, Cropper and Klein doesn’t indulge in the snob factor, unlike your firm.”

Harvey pressed a hand over his heart. “You Googled me. I’m touched.”

“Ha ha. It’s called doing my homework. I’m sure you did the same with Evan.”

“Speaking of homework, where did you go to law school? Columbia? NYU? Stanford?”

Mike hesitated, gaze flicking downward for the barest of moments, but long enough to be telling. He was embarrassed by his alma mater.

“Brooklyn Law,” Mike finally admitted, eyes flashing with defiance.

“Wow. I’m surprised. Your firm might not indulge in snobbery, to use your words, but surely they could do better than that?”

Mike’s cheeks pinkened. “It’s a perfectly good school. And Evan knows – ” He pressed his lips together, as if he had been about to let something slip, and then thought better of it.

“And? Evan knows what?”

“Nothing. We just … we work well together. She knows what I’m capable of.”

Harvey might have continued to tease him, but he was starting to think that Evan Smith had made an astute choice. With only three months of real world experience under his belt, Mike had handled himself remarkably well today, and Harvey couldn’t help but be impressed. He wanted to keep him talking, to find out more about what he was capable of – and not just as an attorney – but he’d accomplished what he’d set out to do in this meeting. He would undoubtedly see more of Mike in the near future.

“I’ll have my assistant get in touch with you to set up a time for that deposition.” Harvey stood up, and Mike quickly did the same. “Know this, though: if Ms. Smith fails to make herself available for that deposition, it’s not going to happen.”

“This is my case, too. I’m the one that pushed for her to take it on.”

“Three months does not make you any kind of expert at this lawyering thing, kid. Have you ever even seen the inside of a courtroom?” Mike opened his mouth, probably to utter some indignant rejoinder. “That is,” said Harvey, “since that time your fifth-grade class took that field trip.” Without giving Mike the chance to reply, he swept out of the room, holding back his grin until he was on the elevator, and the doors glided shut in front of him.

 

******

 

Despite Harvey’s dismissive remarks, the kid had acquitted himself remarkably well for a first-year, in what, Harvey guessed, was his first solo outing. Harvey found himself anticipating going another round with him.

Donna set up the deposition of Donald Waits for the following week, at Pearson Specter Litt. Harvey wore his favorite gray suit that day, and ignored Donna’s knowing smirk.

“You sure you’re ready for this?” she asked him. “My spies tell me opposing counsel eats cocky attorneys like yourself for breakfast, lunch and dinner.”

He was confused for a few seconds, before he realized that Donna was referring to Evan, not Mike. “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” he said, voice oozing sarcasm.

Donna shrugged. “I’m not saying you don’t have a chance with her. If things do go your way, promise me you’ll at least practice safe sex.”

“Oh, I absolutely will.” A jolt of pure, hot lust shot through him as he had a sudden image of himself balls-deep inside of Mike. This doubled his determination to have done with the case today. The sooner he did, the sooner he’d be able to pursue Mike with a clear conscience.

Relatively clear.

 

******

 

This time, in the interest of sheer pettiness, he let Mike and Evan wait an extra twenty minutes in the lobby after they arrived, before having Donna escort them to the conference room. He was already set up in there with Waits and his own associate, Rick, who would be handling the job of recording the session.

Evan Smith strode into the room as if she fancied herself a queen, all sharp angles and haughty disdain. She had perfect blonde hair, perfect makeup, a slender, athletic physique, and icy blue eyes which dissected Harvey with surgical precision. Apparently liking what she saw, she smiled at him.

Mike entered one step behind her, gaze fixed on the floor, lugging a briefcase and Evan’s expensive handbag.

Evan extended one slim hand, smiling glacially. “Harvey Specter. So nice to finally meet you in person. Your reputation precedes you.” Her avid gaze traveled up and down his body. "And doesn't do you justice."

Caught in her heated gaze, Harvey momentarily forgot about Mike. "Likewise, I'm sure," he purred.

They shook hands, and Harvey held onto hers a bit longer than necessary. Nathaniel had not been lying. She was beautiful and intelligent, and sending out signals which he could not fail to interpret as interest. Any other time, he would not have hesitated to flirt and conquer. Her cool, slim hand sent no discernible sparks his way, however. He let it go and withdrew his hand.

Rick stood next to him, gawping at Evan, a hot blush flooding his pale face and nearly camouflaging his abundant freckles. “This is my associate, Rick Sorkin. And you’re here to depose Donald Waits.” Harvey nodded at the witness, a fortyish-looking man with a paunch and thinning brown hair.

More hand-shaking and polite murmurs, while Mike continued to hang back, head down. Evan didn’t bother to introduce him to anyone in the room. Annoyed on Mike’s behalf, Harvey waded into the breach.

“Rick, this is your counterpart, Mike Ross.”

Rick stuck his hand out, but Mike looked to Evan first, as if asking permission. Mouth tightening, she nodded once, and the handshake was completed in dense, awkward silence.

“Sit,” ordered Evan, snapping her fingers at Mike, and pointing at the chair next to hers.

He sat, and carefully set the handbag and briefcase on the conference table, making minute adjustments to their placement, so that they lined up precisely with the edges of the table.

The deposition began. Evan asked all the questions, proving to be a skilled and incisive inquisitor. Her attempts to break Waits, and to discredit him, however, proved futile. He stuck to his original story, just as Harvey had known he would, never wavering, remaining unruffled even when Evan accused him of everything ranging from faulty memory, to corruption and perjury, and anything else she thought would stick. Nothing did.

Harvey might have raised objections, or interrupted her more often, but too much of his attention remained focused on Mike. Was the kid ill today? The sparkle Harvey had noticed in his eyes at their first meeting had vanished. He barely looked up from the tabletop. Instead of taking notes, he only listened passively. What was he even doing here?

At one point, Harvey glanced up at Evan and found her watching him with a frown marring her beautiful features. Caught, her eyes flashed with something that could have been anger, her mouth tightened, and in the next instant all expression had been wiped clean from her face. Turning back to the witness, she resumed her interrogation.

Eventually, Evan ran out of questions. She folded her hands on the table in front of her, and regarded Harvey. “I guess we’re done here,” she said.

They waited while Donna arrived to escort Waits back to the elevator.

When only the lawyers remained, Harvey spoke to Evan. “So, you’ll drop the class action suit against Marsh Motors?”

She frowned delicately. “Why would I do that?”

“Because clearly, Marsh was not at fault. And Gilhart has significantly deeper pockets.”

With a scoffing laugh, she replied, “Mr. Waits might tell a compelling enough story, but beyond his testimony, you still don’t have one single shred of hard evidence.”

Mike spoke up for the first time. “Evan, I think – ”

She clamped a hand on the back of his neck, and murmured coldly, “Boy, I don’t pay you to think.”

Mike cringed under her touch, but didn’t try to move away. “Yes, Mi – Evan.”

Harvey’s eyes narrowed at the near-slip. What the hell was going on with those two?

“Fine,” he said, “I guess we’ll see you in court. If you’d like to stick around for a few minutes, I’ll have Rick make a copy of today’s session for you.”

“I don’t have time for that.” Evan squeezed Mike’s nape, and he blushed and flinched at the same time. “I’ll leave Mike here.” She leaned in closer and lowered her voice, but not enough. “You just be a good boy, and keep your mouth shut, understand?”

Mike shot a nervous glance at Harvey, and then nodded once. “Yes, M—Evan.”

_Ma’am? Mistress?_ Mike wasn’t doing a great job of hiding the nature of their relationship.

Oblivious to the undercurrents in the room, Rick packed up his equipment and stood to go. “Shouldn’t take long,” he said, smiling kindly at a still pink-faced Mike. “Back in a jiffy.”

Evan picked up her handbag. “Harvey, walk me out?” Without another glance at Mike, she swept out of the room.

“You can wait here,” said Harvey softly to Mike, who stared fixedly at the tabletop, a muscle in his jaw twitching. Harvey followed Evan, catching up to her in the lobby.

She stabbed the down button with one perfectly manicured finger, and turned to Harvey. “Let’s talk settlement.”

“Marsh isn’t paying out another dime. However, if you decide to shift your attentions to Gilhart, we’ll gladly provide whatever assistance we can in nailing them to the wall.”

“You seem to have the mistaken impression that you’ve hit the jackpot with Donald Waits. As I’ve already made clear, you don’t have shit.”

“And yet, you were eager enough to depose him.”

“My associate misread the situation. Badly. I'm training him to be more level-headed than that, but this case has struck a rather personal nerve with him.”

“Oh?”

She rolled her eyes, and her lips quirked, displaying her contempt. “The boy is an honest-to-God orphan, if you can believe that. Parents both died in a car crash when he was eleven. Cue the sad violins.”

Harvey felt a stab of something in his chest – sympathy, perhaps? With a dollop of anger at Evan’s cavalier attitude. “Well, aren’t you just the model of compassion?”

“Oh, please. Spare me. I’ve done my research on you, Harvey. You’re not exactly the poster child for caring.” She took a step closer to him and ran an index finger along the edge of his lapel. “We’re a lot alike.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.” She tucked a business card into his breast pocket. “That has my personal number on the back. Call me for a drink, handsome. We can talk some more about settling this case, unless you’re that keen to take it to trial. Afterwards … who knows?” As the elevator announced its arrival with a loud _ding,_ she put her mouth next his ear. “I’ll even loan you my boy, if you promise to let me watch. That’s right, I saw how you were looking at him.”

He stood rigidly still, watching her enter the elevator. When the door closed on her smug, beautiful face, he scowled, shaking his head. “ _Jesus,_ ” he whispered. After taking a moment to wrestle down his temper, he detoured to the associates’ bullpen, and instructed Rick to stretch the five minutes or so it would take to prepare a copy of the video into at least half an hour.

 

******

 

Mike appeared not to have moved when Harvey returned to the conference room. With head bowed, and fisted hands resting on his thighs, he waited, outwardly passive and resigned. Upon hearing Harvey enter the room, a muscle jumped in his jaw, but he did not react otherwise. Harvey sat across the table from him.

“So,” he began conversationally, “your mistress wants to settle.”

Mike’s head jerked up. Wide blue eyes met Harvey’s gaze. “She’s not – ”

“Save it.”

Mike’s mouth snapped shut. His gaze fell to his hands, which twined together in his lap, betraying his anxiety.

Harvey studied him, trying to work out the best way to proceed. He gentled his tone. “It’s okay. I’m not judging you, I’m just a little confused. Last week, at our first meeting, it was clear to me that you’re one of the sharpest first years I’ve ever seen.”

Mike’s eyes fluttered shut briefly, as he seemed to soak in the praise.

“But then you came in here today acting like a whipped dog. What the hell happened? What does she hold over you to make you fall apart like this?”

“It’s not like that.”

“Isn’t it?”

“I owe her everything.”

“The way she touches you …”

“That is none of your business.”

“Hmm. No, I suppose not.” Harvey shrugged. “You do realize you have the basis for a strong case of workplace harassment, right?”

Mike’s lips tightened. Even more telling, a dull flush spread up his neck to his face. “It’s not harassment if she has my consent.”

“Your consent? To treat you like her idiot manservant?”

Mike shifted restlessly. “Do you think that copy will be ready anytime soon? I need to get back to the office.”

“Rick’s working on it. Why? Will your mistress punish you if you don’t return soon enough?”

“I told you: she’s not my mistress.”

Harvey could tell he was lying. “Which came first?” he pressed. “The job, or the other arrangement?”

 “You don’t know anything about … anything.” Mike stared down at his interlaced fingers. “Evan Smith saved me. I owe her – ”

“Yes, I heard you the first time. You owe her everything.” Harvey leaned across the table, ignoring the sudden urge to place a finger beneath Mike’s chin, and tip his face up, just to get another glimpse of his pretty blue eyes. “For how long, though?” When Mike didn’t move, and didn’t answer, Harvey decided to press harder. “Does she make a habit of offering you up to opposing counsel? Or clients?”

Mike jerked in surprise, and his eyes met Harvey’s. “She said she wouldn’t – I mean, that’s none of – I don’t have to tell you anything.”

“Hmm.” Harvey leaned back in his chair. Mike might not realize it, but he was laughably easy to read. “Here’s what I think: she discovered you subbing in some club and slogging your way through law school. She found you to her liking, detected signs of intelligence in you, and decided to take you under her wing, in every way.” Harvey paused. "How am I doing?'

Mike swallowed visibly, but remained silent.

“But here is what else I’m seeing: you’re starting to chafe under her control. You thought that once you passed the bar, she’d ease up on you, but she hasn’t.”

The only indication that Mike had heard him was his frown, and his increasingly agitated breathing.

Harvey stood and moved around the table to stand behind Mike, placing one hand on his shoulder. At first, Mike remained stiff with tension, but after a few seconds, the tension seemed to bleed away. He closed his eyes and shivered. Harvey squeezed his shoulder, and Mike breathed out a soft sigh.

“Yes,” he whispered. “Yes, to everything. I’m a good attorney. I’m a good sub, I know I am, but she pushes it too far.”

“Did you ever consider safewording?”

“We …” Mike swallowed. “We don’t do that.”

_Fuck._

Harvey forced himself to wait several seconds before responding, and to breathe in and out. “You’re aware how wrong that is, aren’t you?”

Another juddering sigh from Mike. “She’s my boss. She can make or break my career. And I owe her – ”

“Everything.” Harvey let go of Mike’s shoulder and half-sat on the table next to him, deliberately close, his thigh inches from Mike’s arm. “She’s a bad Domme. You’re playing a dangerous game.”

“Still not your business, but I signed a contract. Two contracts. She’s within her rights. And even if she wasn’t, I’m trapped. I’ve worked out all the possible scenarios, and it always ends up with me in the same place.”

“Where? Getting fucked by some client for her amusement?”

“God. No. She’s never. Not before. Even though she’s threatened to plenty of times. She must really want that settlement.” His lips twisted. “You can always say no.”

“Unlike you?” Mike flushed again, appearing more angry than embarrassed now. “What if I said yes?”

“Then she’d make it happen.”

“And you’d go along with it?”

Mike’s expression smoothed suddenly. “Yes. I would lick her feet if she ordered me to. I told you: I’m a good sub. No one ever said it would be easy.”

Harvey’s next words were out of his mouth before he’d had a chance to fully weigh their consequences and implications. “If you ever decide to leave, I’m looking for another associate.”

Mike paused, shooting Harvey a bewildered look. “It’s difficult to take you seriously, considering our respective positions on what promises to be a multi-million-dollar lawsuit.”

“But I am serious.” And he was, he realized. “I’d add twenty-percent to whatever Evan’s paying you, and throw in a nice signing bonus on top of that.”

This elicited a frown from Mike. “Even if I believed the offer was sincere – which I don’t – I can’t leave Evan. Like I said, I owe her too much. She knows me, knows what I need, and how to help me maintain my focus.” Mike clamped his lips together, as if he hadn’t meant to admit all that.

A puzzled smile curved Harvey’s mouth. “You seemed focused enough the other day. It’s only when she’s around you that you collapse.” At Mike’s irritated glare, Harvey spread his hands to his sides. “Just calling it like I see it.”

“Why do you even care? The less effective I am, the better for your case.”

“Maybe. Except I know that you can see I’m right regarding Marsh and Gilhart. It’s your boss that’s being hard-headed about it. If you were able to convince her – ”

Mike’s expression grew closed off in an instant, and Harvey knew he’d made a tactical blunder.

Pushing back his chair, Mike stood. “So, this act of yours is all about the case. You actually had me going there for a half a minute.”

“That’s not all it’s about.”

“You know what, Harvey? Evan may be difficult to deal with, at times, but at least she’s honest about who she is, and what she wants. That’s more than I can say for you.” He picked up the briefcase, seemingly prepared to make his dramatic exit, but then hesitated. “Do you think Rick has that copy ready for me?”

Harvey stepped up to him, getting right into his personal space. “You’re scared of returning to the office without it, aren’t you?”

The scoffing noise Mike attempted sounded weak and unconvincing to Harvey. “No.”

“What will she do? What’s the usual punishment for something like that? The whip? The cane? A good, hard spanking with the flat of her shoe?”

Mike’s features tightened. “This conversation is over. Just have the video messengered over to us.” He had one hand on the door when Harvey stopped him.

“Wait.” Picking up the handset of the conference room phone, Harvey punched in three digits. “Rick? Is it ready? Good. Bring it here.” He turned back to Mike, who was regarding him with a puzzled expression. “Rick will be here in a minute. Don’t believe me if you don’t want to, but my job offer was sincere, and it still stands. If you want to make a move, though, I wouldn’t wait too long. It’s not going to do your reputation in the legal community, or with potential clients, any good to be perceived as nothing more that Evan Smith’s overpaid flunky, or her fuck toy.”

Without giving Mike the chance to respond, Harvey brushed past him, and out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

More than a month passed before Harvey saw Mike or Evan again. A preliminary hearing on the Marsh Motors class action suit was scheduled, and Harvey and Rick grew busy preparing their motions, the most important of which was a Motion to Dismiss. Donald Waits represented their best chance of getting the whole thing tossed out, and was eager to testify. They rounded up a couple more witnesses, subpoenaed Gilhart’s shipping records, and researched precedent late into the night.

A couple of days before the hearing, Harvey met Nathaniel Marsh for a drink after work.

“What are my chances, Harvey?” he asked.

He’d known Nathaniel long enough, and respected him enough, that he didn’t bother with the usual, tried and true strategy of blowing smoke up his ass. “Our chances are good, but it’s not a done deal by any means. I’d give us about an eighty-percent chance of having the judge rule in our favor.”

Marsh nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll take those odds any day. Especially with you as my attorney.” His expression turned playful. “How has it been having Evan Smith as opposing counsel?”

“You were right about her. She’s tough.”

“How is she, you know, in the sack?”

Harvey shook his head, chuckling. “Now, how would I know that?”

“What? You didn’t tap that? So, you don’t mind if I …?”

“I’m not the one to ask. Your wife might have something to say about it. Also, I’m pretty sure Evan can make up her own mind. You should probably know, though, that you might be get getting more than you bargained for with that one.”

Nathaniel only looked more intrigued at this assessment. “Is that so? In what way?”

Harvey considered whether or not he should say more, but decided that Nathaniel was both his client and his friend, and he didn’t owe Evan a damn thing. “Remember that night Garrett Munsen was in town?”

“Sure. He took us to that S&M club, and … oh.” His eyebrows lifted as he digested this information. “She’s into that, is she? As in, she likes to be dominated, or …”

“She’d be the one with the whip.”

“Huh.”

Nathaniel didn’t say anything more, but he was visibly intrigued.

“Please tell me you’re not actually considering it. She’s hoping to pry millions from your company bank account, remember?”

“Even more reason for me to want the hearing to go our way tomorrow. Afterwards, she could take out her frustrations on me.”

As he sipped his drink, Harvey eyed Nathaniel with a different sort of interest. “Well, damn, if I’d known, Nate, we could have …”

An amused grunt from Nathaniel. “You may be pretty, but Evan’s got you beat by a mile. Plus, she has the advantage of not having a dick.” His eyes narrowed. “Are you trying to tell me you indulge in that sort of thing? The whips, and all the other stuff?”

“Whips? No. The other stuff? Some, once upon a time. Not long after Harvard, I got some training. I found a sub who was a good match. We’d talked about moving to a 24/7 arrangement, but my career started to take off, and I didn’t have the time or energy to give him the attention he needed. I still don’t have the time for it these days.” Catching sight of Nathaniel’s shocked expression, he shrugged, beginning to wish he hadn’t steered the conversation in this direction. He’d always preferred to keep that aspect of his life private. “Maybe we should get back to discussing the case.”

Nathaniel’s mouth pulled into a comical grimace. “Yeah, this just got a little weird. As in, let’s file this all under ‘too much information’.”

“Done. Should I order us another round?”

“Definitely.”

 

******

 

The night before the hearing, Harvey worked until eight, and was preparing to head home when he received a surprise phone call from Evan Smith.

“Have you come to your senses and decided to drop the case?” he asked perfunctorily.

She gave a thoughtful hum. “I’ve been considering possible alternative outcomes.”

“Oh?”

“If you want to hear more, come and meet me for a drink, and we can talk about it.”

He glanced at his watch. “We’ll have to make it a quick one. See, I have this important hearing tomorrow morning …”

“Funny guy.” She gave him an address, and he told her he’d be there in half an hour.

He shouldn’t have been surprised that the address turned out to be a club similar to the one he and Nathaniel had visited with Garrett Munsen. As he stood inside the entrance, eyes adjusting to the dim lighting, and feeling an insistent bass beat vibrate through his chest, he debated simply turning around and leaving.

Before he’d made up his mind, he spotted Evan in a corner of the main room, where she sat on a loveseat with her sub kneeling at her feet. She wore tight black jeans that accentuated her long legs, and a royal blue leather bustier, which displayed the tops of her creamy breasts to advantage. She caught him looking and waved him over.

He took a seat next to her, murmuring a greeting, and ignoring Mike for the moment, except to note that he wore only a pair of tight, black briefs, and had a black leather collar – presumably Evan’s – locked around his neck. He looked hot as hell, but Harvey hated that it was Evan's collar he wore. Which was ridiculous, since Mike belonged to her, not him.

Harvey ordered a scotch from the waitress Evan summoned, promising himself he’d stop at just one. “Interesting choice for a settlement conference,” he commented, trying to sound nonchalant. In truth, it was difficult to keep his gaze from travelling around the room. There was a lot to take in, and he could only assume even more intriguing things were taking place further inside the club. Old desires stirred within him, and he pushed them away.

“My boy tells me you have us all figured out already, so why not?” She studied Harvey's face for a moment. “Oh, my. You like it here, don’t you? I can tell.”

He shrugged. “You wanted to talk. So, talk.”

Her eyes narrowed, as if he had disappointed her somehow. “Fine. I might be willing to drop the suit against Marsh. You, however, will have to do something for me first.”

“Evan, I don’t think – ”

“I promise you’ll enjoy it.”

Harvey had a strong suspicion, then, of what she was going to propose. His gaze cut to Mike, who remained in position, wrists crossed at the small of his back, and gaze directed at the ground. He could do nothing to disguise his full-body blush, or control his agitated breathing. He looked so sweet, so vulnerable and beautiful, and Harvey experienced a rush of anger at his Domme, and her careless attitude toward him. He was tempted to reject her offer before it even left her mouth, but he raised an eyebrow and waited, wanting to hear the details.

“I’ll limit the settlement amount,” she said, “if you take my boy into the public dungeon, cuff him to the spanking bench, beat his ass until he screams – you can use my favorite paddle, which he detests – and then fuck him hard. He, of course, will not be allowed to come.”

Mike’s eyes fluttered closed briefly. Harvey didn’t know him well enough yet to be sure if he was dismayed or excited by what Evan had suggested.

“Why?” asked Harvey.

“Why what?”

“Why throw your clients under the bus for the sake of … whatever this is. What is it, by the way? Punishment? A negotiated scene? If it’s the first, you should be taking that on yourself, not farming it out to a third party. If the second, I’m sure you could find any number of men in here to take on the role you’re proposing to me.” She didn’t answer right away, and Harvey added, “Or … it’s not just about Mike, is it?”

Evan crossed her legs, and leaned toward Harvey, drawing a blood-red fingernail down the side of his jaw. He held himself still, despite the reflexive urge to jerk back, out of reach.

“No. It’s not,” she replied. “I just think you two would look so damned pretty together. And to answer your first question, why can’t it be about both? Mike likes you. He’s not allowed to keep secrets from me, and he’s admitted as much. He’s also been such a bad boy – a bad sub, and a bad employee. You see, he insists we should drop the case against Marsh, and switch our attentions to Gilhart, and he simply will not shut up about it.” She prodded Mike’s hip with the pointy toe of one shoe. “Isn’t that right, sweetheart?”

Without raising his gaze, Mike frowned. “Which part, mistress?”

“All of it.”

“I don’t –”

“Did you not admit an attraction to Harvey?”

Mike swallowed, and his jaw tightened. He didn’t break position, though. “I said that, objectively. I find him to be an attractive man.”

“What else?”

A new wave of red flooded Mike’s cheeks. “I … I said I would gladly suck his cock, if you told me to, and he allowed it.”

“And?”

“And take my punishment from him, if he agreed.”

“For heaven’s sake, don’t leave out the best part, sweetheart.”

Mike’s head dropped lower. “He could fuck me,” he whispered.

“Because …?”

“Because that’s what mistress wants. And …” His voice was nearly inaudible now. “… and I’m your good boy.”

Harvey had heard enough. “No,” he said sharply. “No, to everything.”

Evan’s eyebrows lifted. “Harvey, I never would have pegged you for such a prude.” Her smile turned faintly malicious. “Although, I would peg you, if you begged nicely.” She cocked her head to one side. “Maybe I’ve misjudged you entirely. Would you like to take Mike’s place, there on the floor?”

Harvey had managed to hold his temper in check thus far. Now, he shook his head, scowling at Evan. “You know what? You don’t deserve Mike. Not as a sub, and not as your associate.” He cast quick, intermittent glances at Mike as he continued to address Evan. “If I was Mike, I would get up and leave right now. I would yell my safeword at the top of my lungs. Except … oh, that’s right. You won’t permit him one. Which is all kinds of fucked up, and you damn well know it. If Mike wants to stay –” He looked directly at Mike now. “If you choose to stay, you’re not as smart as I thought you were.”

At that, Mike flinched. His gaze moved back and forth between Harvey and Evan, unhappy and conflicted. Then Evan set a hand on the back of his neck, and the way he looked up at her ….

Harvey knew a losing cause when he saw one. Mike belonged to Evan, at least for now.

“Too bad,” Evan was saying. “We could have all gotten what we wanted. As it is, now I’m going to have to recruit someone else to give Mike what he needs.”

Harvey paused in the act of preparing to stand, deciding to give it one more try. “Is that what you want, Mike? Or would you prefer to leave with me now?”

It was difficult to read Mike accurately when he refused to meet Harvey’s eyes. He gave a half-shrug, and a minute head shake.

“Harvey,” said Evan, annoyed, “leave the boy alone. He knows his place.”

His gut was telling him to stay and argue the point, but Mike’s expression remained closed off, and Harvey judged this was neither the time nor the place for an intervention. He directed an apologetic grimace at Mike, which he couldn’t see, and then frowned at Evan. “I’ll see you both in court,” he growled, and strode toward the exit.

 

******

 

As plaintiff, respondent, and their respective attorneys arrayed themselves in front of Judge Bardot, Harvey found it a struggle to keep his attention on the front of the courtroom, and off Mike. He looked positively mouth-watering this morning, in a dark grey suit that hugged his body in all the right places, and a blue tie that brought out the color of his eyes.

He could have had that last night, he kept reminding himself. He didn’t regret turning down Evan’s offer, considering its utter wrongness, but he couldn’t help imagining what it might have felt like to master Mike, and so publicly.

Next to Harvey, Nathaniel seemed to be losing his own battle to keep his eyes off Evan. Harvey reminded himself to give him a stern warning later about getting involved with her.

Rick remained clueless to the undercurrents, shuffling papers on the table in front of them, lips pinched together, and freckles standing out in his pale face. This was his first time in court, and he’d been dropping things and stuttering all morning.

The judge was busy for the moment, conferring with her clerk, so Harvey took the opportunity to give into temptation, turning his gaze fully on Mike. He had his own gaze fixed upon the tabletop, hands gripping the edge. He must have sensed Harvey watching him, because he turned his head suddenly, and his eyes met Harvey’s. Harvey saw worry, and something else. Sadness. Hopelessness. Then he shifted minutely on the hard chair, and could not hold back a wince, even if it was there and gone in a second.

That wince concerned Harvey, and he experienced a pang of regret – one of many since last night – for leaving Mike in the club with Evan. She had evidently followed through on her intention to punish him, and his ass was clearly suffering for it this morning. Normally, he’d file something like that under “none of my business,” but after what he’d seen of her, and the things Mike had told him, he didn’t trust Evan to play safely.

Holding Mike’s gaze, Harvey allowed the corner of his mouth to twitch up in a smile meant to convey sympathy and encouragement – although he wasn’t certain what he was encouraging him about. Certainly not the case. They were on opposing sides, after all.

The judge finally returned her attention to them. “I’ve read the respondent’s motion, but I’m not convinced. So, convince me.”

Harvey stood. He ran through the reasons Marsh was not at fault in the accidents, and made the case against Gilhart. They had witnesses to call, he told the judge, if she still wasn’t prepared to rule.

When it was the plaintiff’s turn, he was surprised that it was Mike who jumped to his feet. Evan, it appeared, was surprised as well – surprised and angry. She tugged at Mike’s sleeve, hissing what were probably orders and warnings. Ignoring her, Mike began to speak rapidly, his voice shaky, but loud and carrying.

“This case is not simply about money, and blame. It’s partly about that, to be sure, but we need to keep the victims at the forefront of our minds. Lars Dalleson died. He left behind a wife, two young children, a mortgage, a lifetime of empty seats at birthday parties, graduations, and weddings. Sara Frink is a quadriplegic who will spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair, and will require help with every single aspect of her daily life. She is twenty-three years old, and her insurance won’t cover even a fraction of her medical bills.

“Other lives have been impacted as well. Families financially devastated. Careers put on hold, or derailed entirely. Some of the victims might have walked away from the crash, but they cannot walk away from their injuries, and their memories, and their pain and suffering. Someone needs to pay for this. Should it be Marsh Motors? They might have been duped by Gilhart Manufacturing, but they are not entirely blameless. At a minimum, they should commit to covering all ongoing medical expenses. However – ”

At this word, Evan’s head jerked up, and her already scowling face contorted into stark anger. Her whispered words to Mike carried easily across the aisle to Harvey.

“So help me, boy, if you complete that thought the way I think you intend to, you are so fucking fired.”

Mike sucked in a breath. “However,” he repeated, stressing the word and infusing it with anger, “punitive damages, in what I sincerely hope will amount to hundreds of millions of dollars, should be assessed against Gilhart Manufacturing, not Marsh Motors.”

The judge frowned down at him. “You’re arguing in favor of dismissal of your own case?”

Evan surged to her feet. “He is not. He can’t. Mr. Ross does not speak for me, or for our clients. In fact, he is no longer employed by my firm.”

Smiling coldly, the judge shook her head. “And yet, his name is on the complaint, and he makes a compelling case. He’s convinced me. Motion to Dismiss is granted.” She banged her gavel once and turned to her clerk. “What else have we got on the docket this morning?”

Nathaniel grasped Harvey’s arm. “What does this mean? Am I liable or not?”

Closing his briefcase, Mike stood, preparatory to making a speedy exit. Harvey might have run (or walked quickly, in a dignified manner) to catch up with him, but he was distracted by Evan, who had appeared at his side.

“We need to talk, Harvey. Now.”

“Wouldn’t you like to go catch up with your associate first?”

“You heard me. He’s not my problem anymore. He’s fired.”

“That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think? He made an excellent case.”

She scowled at him. “You would say that. He won your fucking motion for you.” Her eyes narrowed, giving her a dangerous appearance. “You got to him, didn’t you?”

“I haven’t spoken to him since last night, before I left. That was all him up there.”

“Bullshit. I saw how he responded to you.”

“You can choose not to believe me, but I’m telling you, I had nothing to do with that.”

At least half of Harvey’s thoughts remained on Mike. He had not only just lost his job, but he’d defied his Domme, and would likely be dismissed by her, if he hadn’t been already. His emotions must be in turmoil right now.

“Still,” said Evan, “we should talk. Let’s find a free room.”

Harvey would have preferred to go after Mike, but he still had a client to represent. He waved one hand, indicating that Evan should precede him. Before he followed her out of the room, he turned to Rick.  “Pack up and return to the office. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Harvey and Nathaniel followed Evan from the room. They located an empty conference room, and Evan was talking before they were all seated.

“As furious as I am at that little traitor right now, Mike did make one excellent point. Marsh Motors should continue to reimburse my clients for ongoing expenses incurred as a result of your faulty transmissions. If you’ll agree to that, I won’t re-file against you.”

Harvey shook his head. “You heard the judge. Your case was dismissed.”

“Only because my associate went rogue on me. I have a good case – ”

“You don’t have shit. I think we’re done here. Nathaniel?”

When Harvey got a look at Nathaniel’s face, he knew he wasn’t going to like whatever his client was about to say.

“Hold on, Harvey. Just … hold on. I do want to help the victims.”

“You aren’t liable –”

“Aren’t I? We should have run more tests before those cars left our factory. Honestly, I haven’t slept a whole night through since I heard the news about Lars Dalleson. I started my company with a single goal in mind. I wanted to make the best cars I could. I never wanted to put anyone’s lives in danger.” He gave Harvey an apologetic look. “I appreciate all the time and work you put into the case. I don’t want my company bankrupted, but we can make those additional payouts Mr. Ross suggested, maybe start some kind of victim’s fund. I’d also like to lend my help in the case against Gilhart.”

Nathaniel smiled at Evan, and Harvey knew this capitulation was about more than cars and victims. This was some sort of misguided flirting. He bit back a growl of frustration. “Nate, maybe we should talk privately.”

With a calculating expression, Evan laid a hand on Nathaniel’s arm. “You’re doing the right thing, Nathaniel. It’s obvious to me that you are a good man, whose heart is in the right place. I’ll let my clients know to expect those payment before the end of the week.” She withdrew her hand and turned her gaze to Harvey. “However, there’s not going to be any class action against Gilhart, not by me. My firm has already sunk too much money into this, and the senior partners made it clear if we lost this motion, they were pulling the plug.”

Harvey expected her decision might also contain an element of spite, and have something to do with sticking it to Mike. He spoke to Nathaniel. “If you’re truly set on this course of action, can we at least agree you should get some public relations points out of all this?”

Nathaniel’s expression turned mulish. He shot a quick glance at Evan as if her opinion mattered more than Harvey’s. “I’ll come by your office tomorrow, Harvey. Have Donna call my assistant with a time, all right?”

“Fine. I’ll see you then.” As he left the room, Nathaniel was inching closer to Evan, and Harvey was wondering if he’d be attending his fourth wedding sometime next year. Maybe he’d skip that one.

 

******

 

Mike lived in Brooklyn, in a neighborhood teetering on the cusp of gentrification. His building was old, and would likely be torn down in a few years to make way for another luxury condo/retail complex. Harvey caught the front door before it closed behind a young woman who had been buzzed in ahead of him. He climbed the stairs to the second floor and knocked on Mike’s door. Footsteps approached, retreated, and approached once more. The door opened a sliver, revealing Mike in unfastened jeans and a rumpled t-shirt not quite pulled down all the way.

“What do you want?” Mike asked through the narrow opening.

“To come inside, for starters, unless you want all of your neighbors to hear what I have to say.”

“Like I give a shit about them.” Mike huffed out a breath. “Fine.” He pulled the door wider, allowing Harvey to enter.

He strode inside, and blatantly scrutinized the apartment. Mike kept it neat and clean enough, but the place was appallingly shabby, without the ameliorating benefit of chic. He wondered how much Evan had been paying him, if this was the best he could afford.

Once he’d satisfied his curiosity as to his surroundings, he turned his attention to Mike. “You ran out of the courtroom in a hurry.”

“I did not run.”

“Hm.” Harvey spotted a plastic bag on the coffee table, containing what looked suspiciously like pot. He walked closer, and picked it up, ignoring Mike’s outraged glare. “What have we here?” He raised an eyebrow at Mike. “Looking to drown your sorrows? Or smoke them away?”

Mike crossed his arms over his chest. “What’s it to you? You planning to call the cops?”

“No.” He tossed the weed back on the table. “Nathaniel Marsh is following your suggestion.”

“Oh?”

“He’s agreed to start a victims’ fund. I tried to talk him out of it.”

“Of course you did.” Mike sat on the couch, and winced visibly. “Well, with that money, plus what Evan gets Gilhart to pay –”

“Evan isn’t going after Gilhart.”

Mike’s eyes widened. “Why the hell not?”

Harvey gave a low laugh. “If you think about it, I’ll bet you can work that one out.” He eyed the couch, found it acceptable, and took a seat in the corner opposite Mike.

“Shit.” Mike appeared to take a moment to reflect on what Harvey had told him, and then shrugged. “She’s not the only attorney out there. I’m sure we could find someone else to take the case.”

“We?”

Mike stared at him for a second. “Me. I can find someone.” He slumped back on the couch, but instantly sat upright, grimacing.

Remembering how angry Evan had been when Harvey had left the club last night, he had a sudden inkling as to how she had assuaged that anger. “How bad was it after I left?”

“No worse than usual.”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“I could have stayed.” Mike had no reply for that. “Would you show me?” At Mike's blank stare, Harvey indicated his back.

Mike considered the question, and then turned slowly, away from Harvey. He lifted his shirt. “Feast your eyes.”

Harvey inhaled a quick breath, but did not react otherwise. Mike’s back was striped with marks, some fresh, and some fading. The back of his jeans gaped open slightly, and Harvey could see that the bruises continued downward.  Wincing in sympathy, Harvey ran a gentle finger down Mike’s spine, tracing the most recent bruises. At the same time, he catalogued Mike’s too-thin torso, and the ribs that stood out too prominently to be healthy. Mike shivered at his touch.

“I’m sorry.”

Mike pulled down his shirt and turned back to face Harvey. “I don’t want your pity. I never asked you to come over here and spy on me.”

“That’s not why I’m here."

"Then, why?"

"After what happened in court, I was worried about you. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Mike’s lips pressed together as he seemed to struggle with what to say. He burst out, “You could have prevented it. Not what happened at the hearing. I’m talking about last night. All you had to do was agree to what she wanted. But you didn’t. When you left, she was beside herself with anger. She was going to make good on her threat and recruit some random guy to play your role, but I threatened to safeword to them. They would have had to stop. The room monitors would never have let it continue.”

“Then, for God’s sake, why didn’t you do the same with her?”

“Don’t you get it yet? I didn’t want her to cut me loose. She may have flaws, but without her, I have nothing and nobody. I can take the pain. I don’t crave it like some people do, but I deserved it, every bit of it.”

“No. You didn’t.”

“You say that, but you don’t know. I’m a screwup, and I always have been.”

“Mike …”

“The day we met, you said I didn’t look old enough to be an attorney. Would it surprise you to know that I’m nearly thirty? That’s how long it took me to get my law degree. My path was … crooked, in more ways than one. I was expelled from Columbia as an undergrad, thirty seconds after I found out I was blackballed from Harvard. Then my grandmother got sick, and I needed to think outside the box to find a way to pay her bills. I wrote term papers for students who were too stupid or lazy to write their own. I figured out I could make even more by taking the LSAT’s for lawyer wannabes. It didn’t feel like that big a step from there to letting my buddy talk me into running drugs for him.”

It surprised Harvey how affected he was by Mike’s trite little tale of woe. He was, though, and found himself wishing that he had found Mike sooner, so that he could have spared him some of the choices he’d been forced to make.

“When I was nearly busted for the third time,” Mike continued, “I knew I had to call it quits. Before I could work out how to do that, Grammy died. That’s when I decided I needed to straighten out my life, and get it back on track.

“By then, I didn’t care about attending some bullshit prestige school. I finished up my undergrad degree with night and online courses, and worked my ass off during every other hour I could manage. I don’t think I hardly slept at all for two years. Brooklyn Law was actually a bit easier to handle, because I snagged a partial scholarship. I knew the course material backwards and forward already, but I still had to do the work, and I still needed to earn money just to survive.

“My buddy the drug dealer suggested hooking.” He let out a harsh laugh. “Maybe it would have come to that eventually. Luckily, a student in my Beginning Torts class clued me into another option. You were right, before, what you guessed. That’s how I met Evan, subbing for pay in this little dive club in Brooklyn. Shit, the night she approached me for a scene, I thought she was my savior. Maybe she was, at first.”

Mike stared at the floor, chewing his lower lip. “She could be kind, you know, when she wanted to. She even made me fly, which no one else ever managed. Not often, but that was okay. And a couple of times she took me down so far, and for so long, that all the noise in my head just … stopped.” His gaze grew distant, as if remembering. “That alone was worth the price of admission.”

“So, what happened?”

“When I passed the bar, and started working for her, she changed towards me. I assumed it was part of the whole mentor thing. You know, sink or swim, tough love, and all that. Then she forbade me my safeword. I thought it was another test. I didn’t want to seem weak, so I allowed it.”

Mike’s shoulders sagged, and all of a sudden, he looked completely exhausted. “You don’t need to tell me how stupid I was. Still, if it hadn’t been for that damn case, maybe we would have worked past all that, and gotten back to a good place. Maybe not. A part of me is relieved to be done with her. I don’t know how much more I could have taken. But …” He shook his head. “It wasn’t all bad.”

While Mike talked, Harvey made a mental note to contact Evan’s club later, to fill them in on her abuses. He didn’t mention that to Mike. If he was reading him correctly, he’d likely object, and jump to her defense, even after all that had happened.

He moved closer to Mike, so that only inches separated them, and placed a hand on his shoulder, meaning it as a gesture of comfort and support. Mike stared at him, one eyebrow raised.

“Evan is a lousy Domme, who never deserved you.” Harvey shifted his hand, letting his thumb tease Mike’s collarbone. Mike didn’t protest, only watched Harvey’s face intently. “Don’t judge us all by her actions.”

“I’m not …” Mike swallowed thickly and licked his lips. “You know what? Let's not discuss her anymore.”

"Agreed."

Harvey hadn’t come here with seduction on his mind, but sitting here next to Mike, touching him, was proving to be a challenge. As if drawn by a gravitational field too strong to resist, Harvey’s upper body tilted toward Mike. His gaze was fixed on Mike’s mouth.

“What are you doing?” Mike set a hand against Harvey’s shoulder. He didn’t push him away or drag him closer.

Harvey considered the question. What was he doing? The answer seemed obvious, but he hesitated before admitting, “Getting ready to kiss you.”

“Oh.” Mike’s fingers tightened on Harvey, and his gaze softened. "Good."

Relief flooded Harvey, followed immediately by rising excitement. He closed the small distance that remained between them, and pressed his mouth to Mike's, dipping his tongue between his parted lips. His first taste of Mike was every bit as sweet as he'd imagined it would be. When he nipped his lower lip, Mike moaned, his warm breath whispering against Harvey, and mingling with Harvey's answering groan.

Mike locked his arms around the back of Harvey's neck. Taking this as permission, Harvey shifted them both, until Mike stretched full-length on the couch, with Harvey on top of him. Their legs tangled together as Harvey licked into his mouth. Already, Harvey was hard and aching. Mike's erection poked at his hip. Holding Mike's bottom, he ground against him and deepened the kiss. 

Long minutes later, Harvey lifted his head, taking in Mike heavy-lidded eyes and rosy, swollen mouth. “Can I touch you?” he whispered.

A jerky nod from Mike, who seemed to be having difficulty breathing.

Harvey worked his hand down the open front of Mike’s jeans and took hold of his cock. Mike gasped and thrust up into his hand, eyes squeezed shut and head thrown back, and then froze, as if holding himself in check. He opened his eyes and met Harvey’s eyes, a baffling sort of detachment filling his gaze.

Setting aside for the moment his own need, Harvey stroked him expertly, keenly watching his expression, wanting to bring back that too brief flash of unfiltered, naked want. He could tell that Mike was holding back, and that simply wouldn’t do. Harvey decided it was time to shift gears.

“Let me fuck you,” he murmured.

No hesitation from Mike. He nodded.

“Here, or in the bedroom?”

Mike nodded again, and Harvey smirked.

“That wasn’t a yes or no question.”

“Wherever you want,” Mike whispered. “Whatever you want.”

“Mm. That’s what I like to hear.” He rolled off Mike and stood, extending a hand to him, and gesturing for him to lead the way.


	3. Chapter 3

“Take off your shirt,” Harvey ordered, reclining on the bed. “Now, your pants. Nice. No underwear. I like that.”

Mike stood perfectly still by the foot of the bed, not fidgeting, arms hanging loosely at his sides. His long, elegant, cut cock stood at attention, curving against his lower belly. He looked positively edible, which sounded like an excellent idea, now that Harvey thought about it. He crooked a finger at Mike. “Come here.”

Harvey indicated that Mike should take his place against the small mound of pillows, and then settled himself between his legs. Using only the pads of his fingers, he teased Mike’s cock, skimming up and down his length, barely touching. Mike held himself still, bunching handfuls of Harvey’s sheets in his white-knuckled fists while his breath hissed in through his nose, and _whuffed_ out through his mouth.

Harvey made it his goal to get Mike to lose his iron control.

An exploratory lick into the slit at Mike’s tip brought the sharp, salty taste of Mike’s pre-come to Harvey’s tongue. He closed his lips around the head, and concentrated his efforts on the sensitive spot on the underside, flicking his tongue against it, while one hand cradled Mike’s balls, rolling and squeezing gently. Mike sighed and shifted his hips minutely, but did not react otherwise.

Taking more of Mike into his mouth, Harvey swallowed hungrily, loving the taste and feel of him. He left off playing with Mike’s balls, and slid a finger behind them to rub across his hole. Mike’s breathing remained slow and even, but built in volume, as if he had begun sucking in more oxygen. Encouraged, Harvey took more of him in, and poked a dry fingertip inside him, fucking in and out in quick, rough stabs. He hummed around Mike’s cock, deep in his throat, but Mike never broke position.

Mike was proving harder to crack than he’d anticipated. No, this would definitely not do.

Harvey dragged his lips back up Mike’s length and let him fall from his mouth. “You know, Mike, I don’t mind doing all the work, but I prefer a partner who doesn’t just lay there like a doll. I hope it doesn’t prove too much trouble to train that out of you.” He teased the tip of Mike’s cock with his thumb, keeping the pressure light. “Tell me, do you like that?”

Mike nodded, eyes so wide that white showed all the way around his blue irises.

“Use your words,” Harvey ordered.

“Ah … yes,” he husked. “I like it.”

“What do you like?”

“All of it.”

Harvey lowered his mouth halfway down Mike’s shaft and sucked, slow and wet. He lifted off again. “More specific, please.”

“I … I like your mouth on my cock. Obviously. And the way you look at me, like you want to devour me whole. A-and when your voice goes all low and growly.”

Harvey chuckled, and poked his finger more deeply into Mike’s ass. “How about that?”

Finally starting to squirm a little, Mike got out, “Y-yes. I love the way your fingers inside me like that. Want your cock, though.”

“Want it how?”

“Inside me. Stretching me, and filling me. Fucking me.”

“Do you want to come in my mouth? Or while I come inside you?”

Mike’s brows furrowed, as if Harvey had posed an impossible riddle. “Whichever you want.”

It wasn’t a satisfactory answer, but Harvey let it go for now. Mike would need to be taught to understand that his opinions mattered. Hopefully, Harvey would have plenty of opportunity for that in the future. Almost reluctantly, he removed his finger from Mike’s ass, and pulled back. Next time, he would suck Mike until he came apart. Right now, their first time, he needed to be inside him.

“Supplies?” he asked, and Mike nodded at the nightstand. Harvey crawled up his body and leaned across him to open the drawer, where he found a couple of condoms and a nearly empty bottle of lube. “Someone needs to go shopping,” he murmured, followed by, “turn over.”

He shook the bottle of lube, squeezed out most of what was left in it, and considered Mike’s superbly toned bottom. At the moment, it was covered in bruises, but he imagined it as he’d prefer to see it, pale and perfect, lightly fuzzed like a peach. With his non-lubed hand, he pulled Mike’s cheeks apart. “Is the pain manageable?” he asked, frowning.

“I’m fine. Do you want me on my knees?”

“Not yet. Just relax and let me play with you for a while.” He massaged Mike’s hole, starting with a soft touch. “How’s that?” He wasn’t normally so talkative during sex, but he wanted to elicit a reaction from Mike – any reaction. As he’d already noted, he’d been trained well. How long, he wondered, had it taken Evan, and the doms who came before her, to turn Mike into this passive thing he was now? Orgasm denial was one thing, but this? As he’d said, Harvey preferred his partners loud, vocal and responsive.

With no warning, he plunged two fingers inside Mike. He didn’t even flinch, although his sphincter tightened up, causing Harvey to catch his breath. Mike’s channel gripped his fingers. How amazing would it feel when he got his cock inside him? He left his fingers where they were, not moving, to see what Mike would do. He remained still for a few minutes, and then glanced over his shoulder at Harvey, a puzzled expression on his face.

“I want you to move,” said Harvey, stressing each word. “I want to see, and to hear that you’re enjoying this every bit as much as I am. If not, we don’t continue. Understood?”

Mike nodded. “Yes, sir,” he murmured, the words muffled by one of the pillows.

Something electric coursed through Harvey at Mike’s form of address. He hadn’t asked for that, they hadn’t negotiated anything, but there was no denying that he liked it, and his cock approved. He jammed his fingers more deeply into Mike, and drove them in and out. At first Mike seemed to either forget or ignore Harvey’s earlier instruction. Then Harvey shifted his angle of attack, and Mike sucked in a quick breath, tipping his head back and letting out a moan which was positively pornographic.

Harvey finger-fucked him in earnest, delighting in the faint, smacking sound his fingers made as they thrust in and out of Mike’s tight heat, and the panting little grunts that he made as Harvey methodically shredded his self-control. He planted one knee between Mike’s long legs, which splayed out wantonly, and leaned down, so he could speak directly into Mike’s ear. His fingers remained inside him, and every so often he moved them around in a tight circle. “This isn’t a scene. This is just you and me. Stop over-thinking. There’s no punishment for enjoying yourself.” He gripped Mike’s shoulder and lowered his voice. “I’m not her.”

Mike twisted his head to look over his shoulder at Harvey. For a moment he appeared is if he didn’t believe Harvey, as if he suspected a trap. He must have seen something in Harvey’s eyes to reassure him, because his expression gradually cleared, and he gave a slow nod. “Okay.” He turned back around, hugged a pillow to his chest, and repeated, “Okay.”

Harvey pulled his fingers from Mike’s ass, and wiped them on the sheets. “I’d like you on your back now.” He knew they’d both be happy with Harvey nailing a kneeling Mike from behind. This first time, though, he wanted to see his face, to watch his mouth go slack, see his eyes go hazy and unfocused when he came. Tearing open one of the dusty condom wrappers, Harvey knelt up and rolled it down his hard length, and then lubed himself up. Mike watched him avidly through bent knees, leaning up on his elbows.

Harvey lined himself up with Mike’s hole, and pressed the head of his cock past resistance, into Mike’s tight channel. “Mm,” he hummed, “you feel really good.” He guided Mike’s legs over his hips, and felt him lock his ankles around his back. Mike reached up behind himself to grab the headboard.

Harvey shoved all the way in, and a heartfelt groan escaped him. “Fuck, Mike,” he breathed. He snapped his hips back, and plunged back in, setting a rhythm which Mike matched, thrust for thrust, as if they had been doing this together for years.

At first, Harvey took what he wanted while Mike held on for the ride. When he felt on the verge of exploding, he eased back and took Mike’s cock in his fist, stroking him off with an expert touch. He could see that Mike was on the verge as well, but was holding himself back, probably waiting for permission. Harvey was only too happy to give it to him. “Come for me,” he murmured.

That’s all it took. Mike’s back arched, and the tendons in his outstretched arms tensed and trembled. He shouted once, a harsh, strangled sound, and erupted hotly over Harvey’s fist, shaking and cursing. Harvey didn’t let up, milking every bit of cum from him, until Mike grew overly-sensitive, and grabbed Harvey’s wrist, eyes pleading with him to stop.

Harvey braced his hands next to Mike’s on the headboard, and resumed pounding into him, eyes never leaving Mike’s. He held back his release, prolonging the experience for as long as he could. Sweat dampened his face and chest as he exerted himself. Eventually his breath grew short, and his legs and thighs burned. By then, Mike’s cock had begun to twitch and plump again. His ass had to be sore, but he never uttered a word of complaint, just stared up at Harvey as if he was the only thing in the universe that mattered in that moment.

It was that look of uncomplicated adoration, unasked for and unexpected, that inflamed Harvey and finally sent him over the edge. He clutched Mike to him and shuddered violently, releasing inside of him in pulse after pulse, mouth open on Mike’s shoulder to muffle his wild cry.

He came down slowly, to the feel of Mike’s hands stroking over his sweat-damp back. The one leg still wrapped around him dragged up and down his hip. Still buried inside Mike, Harvey pushed up, supporting himself on his arms, and gazed down at him. He opened his mouth, changed his mind about speaking, and instead leaned in for long, lazy kiss. After a few minutes, Mike shifted beneath him, signaling his discomfort. Reluctantly, Harvey pulled out, immediately missing his connection with Mike.

He discarded the condom, took time for a quick, rudimentary cleanup of both Mike and himself, and fell back into the bed behind Mike, gathering him up in his arms. Mike turned his head and gave him a sleepy smile. Harvey kissed him again, and then tightened his arms around him and nuzzled the back of his neck. “You were amazing,” he mumbled, which was the last thing he remembered before he slid into exhausted sleep.

 

******

 

Several hours had passed, and shadows filled the bedroom. Harvey’s stomach rumbled, and was answered by Mike’s, but he wasn’t ready to move yet. He took hold of Mike’s cock, not trying to arouse him, but pleased just the same when he immediately swelled in his fist.

Another time, he would have happily initiated round two, but there were still things that needed to be said before Mike’s body distracted him again. He pressed a kiss to the vulnerable spot behind Mike’s ear and thrust a knee between his legs, enjoying the feel of him in his arms.  "Are you awake?" He murmured.

"Mm."

 “I know it’s only been a few hours, but have you given any thought to your future yet?”

Mike stared at him over his shoulder, brows drawn down, probably remembering Harvey’s job offer. He appeared faintly disappointed, and Harvey hid a smile.

“I’m not sure yet,” said Mike. “Maybe I’ll take on Gilhart on my own.”

“You have to know that’s not a job for one person. You’d sink in less than a month.”

“I’m sure I could find some firm who would hire me for the promise of that big contingency fee.”

“You’re probably right.” Harvey tilted his head and pasted a regretful look on his face. “It’s too bad that someone else has already taken the case.” He kept his gaze on Mike’s face, and was inordinately pleased when it took him only a matter of seconds to connect the dots.

“You,” Mike breathed. His expression was suspended somewhere between happy and outraged. He disentangled himself from Harvey’s arms and legs, and turned, sitting up.

“Me. It’s going to be a real bear of a case. Mountains of documents to sift through and catalog. Witnesses to depose. Late nights. Minimal sleep. I’m sure you know the drill. My associate Rick, although a hard worker, and reasonably intelligent, might not be up to the task, and I can only carry so much of the load myself.”

“And?” Suspicion and hope clashed in Mike’s eyes.

“And I’m looking to bring in another associate for the duration of the case. These sorts of things have been known to drag on for months, or years. After the case is done? It all depends on how said associate performs.”

“I would almost think you were offering me a job again,” said Mike carefully, “if I didn’t know that your firm only hires Harvard grads.”

“The name of my firm, Mike, is Pearson Specter Litt. My name is on the wall, and as a result, I have the privilege of making certain judgment calls.”

“There are two other names up on that wall.”

“True, but if I can’t talk at least one of them into letting me hire you, I wouldn’t be worthy of the title of best closer in New York, would I?” He paused. “Will you accept the job?”

Harvey wasn’t certain what lay behind Mike’s hesitation, but he had a hunch. After a few seconds, Mike’s eyebrows scrunched together. “Is that why you came over today? Was this – ” He gestured at the bed. “Was this just an afterthought? Or you, taking advantage of the situation? Or – ” Mike’s eyes widened. “Was this you trying to close me?”

Harvey supposed Mike’s reaction wasn’t completely uncalled for. The seduction probably should have waited until he’d had an answer from Mike about the job. He couldn’t find it in himself to regret it, though. He’d been lusting after Mike since the first time they met. He hadn’t wanted to wait any longer, and Mike had proved willing enough.

Mike was waiting for a response.

“I came over here to see how you were doing, and to offer you a job, that much is true. The sex was an entirely separate issue. You seemed pretty into it, so let’s not pretend like it was anything but consensual. If you accept the job – and I hope you will – we might need to have a discussion regarding the wisdom of repeating what just happened.”

Mike’s face fell. “Oh. You have some kind of rule about not fucking your employees?”

“it’s more of a guideline.”

“I see. Good thing we got it out of the way, then.” Bitterness laced Mike’s voice

“I’m not saying it’s off the table permanently. In fact, I’m not saying it’s off the table at all.”

“Huh. I don’t suppose I get a vote in this.”

“You absolutely get a vote. Look, how about this? Think about whether or not you even want the job. After that is settled, we can revisit the rest of it.”

“The rest of it? You mean whether we sleep together again? How can you be so cold-blooded about this? I was here, remember? The other guy in the bed? I happen to know that it was fucking great between us. Chemistry like that doesn’t just happen every day.”

Harvey knew he had to proceed carefully. Mike was right about their chemistry, but Harvey had no desire to repeat the mistakes of Evan Smith. “I am aware. Make no mistake: this wasn’t a one-off for me. I know your history, though, and we need to be very clear that you have the option to proceed or not, to call a halt whenever you want, without fear of losing your job. It is absolutely not my intention to abuse your trust in that way.”

Some of Mike’s incipient panic appeared to recede, but his expression remained skeptical. “Why me, though? For the job, I mean. I don’t have the pedigree, or the experience. My judgement, as it turns out, is not the greatest. Why not just grab yourself another Harvard wonder kid?”

“This case would have never gone forward if it hadn’t been for you. You’re passionate about getting justice for the victims. It means something to you, more than just a fat payday. Beyond this one case, I see potential in you.”

“Huh. Potential. That’s the same line Evan used on me.”

“Well, I’m not her, and it’s not a line.” His fingers itched to reach for Mike again. “You don’t need to decide right this second. The job offer is good for forty-eight hours.”

Mike nodded, face turned away.

Harvey sighed. “Do you want me to leave?”

A pause, and then a quick headshake from Mike. He turned to look at Harvey, and a faint smile played around his mouth. “No. I don’t want you to leave.” He stretched out next to Harvey and pressed his face to his chest. “I want you to stay the night, and I want you to fuck me as many times as your old man stamina can manage.”

This surprised a laugh out of Harvey. “Challenge accepted.”

 

******

 

Harvey didn’t have to wait forty-eight hours to discover what Mike’s decision would be. In the morning, he left him sleeping soundly, and headed back to his condo to shower and change clothes. At work, he’d been at his desk for less than an hour when his attention was drawn to a low-voiced argument out in the hallway. He looked up to find Donna on her feet, blocking Mike from entering, holding one hand in front of him and shaking her head.

“It’s okay,” Harvey called to her through the open door. “I forgot to tell you, he has an appointment.”

As Mike edged warily past Donna, and into his office, Harvey forced down the stupid grin which threatened to stretch all the way across his face at seeing Mike again so soon. He gave Mike a bland, level look. “I’d ask how you got past the security guard downstairs, but I don’t care, beyond being more than a little impressed. Can I infer from your presence here this morning, that you’ve decided to accept the job?”

Mike closed the door and moved further into the office. “Possibly. We just need to get a few things straight first.”

Harvey gestured toward one of the guest chairs in front of his desk. “Then sit. Tell me what’s on your mind.”

Mike sat. “If I come work for you, that’s all this will be, a working relationship. For now, at least, until Gilhart is settled.” His face tightened briefly in a grimace. “You already know more about my life than I’m comfortable with. I suppose that hoping you won’t use what you know against me is asking too much. So be it. Be a tough boss. Be as tough as you like, but do not try to get in my head like Evan did. I’m not your sub. I just want – ” Mike’s voice caught, and he paused to gain control of his emotions. “I just want to do a good job, and to be a good lawyer. I … I don’t want to be hurt anymore. I’m done with that.” His gaze when he stopped talking was clear and direct.

Harvey understood what Mike was saying, and why he’d felt the need to say it. He grew angry at Evan all over again for complicating things with Mike. Maybe, he told himself, it was for the best. Getting involved with a subordinate was the worst sort of trap, for both parties. It was disappointing, but at least Mike had left the door open for some unspecified point in the future.

“Believe me, Mike, the last thing I want to do is hurt you. I expect you to work hard, of course, and if I’m not satisfied with your performance, I’ll let you know. And just so _I’m_ clear, I’m not looking for a sub.” Something occurred to him, and he couldn’t stop his brow from wrinkling. “Are you looking for a new Dom?”

Mike shuddered. “No. Not now. Maybe not ever.” His eyes shifted to one side, unable to meet Harvey’s gaze any longer. “Probably,” he amended. “Eventually.”

Evan had shattered Mike’s trust in every way possible, as a mentor, and as his Domme. Someday Mike might be prepared to let down his guard once more, but until that happened, Harvey would have to tread carefully.

“Then I guess we understand one another.” Harvey angled his head to one side. “Are you satisfied? Will you accept the job?”

“Yeah. I will.” Finally, Mike allowed himself a smile. “Let’s demolish those bastards at Gilhart.”

 

******

 

It had taken more than a bit of convincing to get Jessica and Louis to agree to hire Mike, even on a trial basis. Louis was the most vehemently opposed, and seemed unlikely to change his position. As it turned out, Mike was the one to change Jessica’s mind. After their first, awkward introduction, Mike shot a look at Harvey which seemed to say, _I’ve got this,_ entered Jessica’s office and closed the door.

Harvey never found out exactly what went on in there, but the next time he saw Jessica, her only comment was, “Okay. I get it.”

Two out of three name partners were all that was required to put Mike on the payroll. Louis was the only holdout. Harvey was willing to bet he would come around eventually, once he got to know Mike, and witnessed what he could do, but Harvey had known him long enough to understand that he had his own unique psychodrama to cycle through before he transformed from intolerant ass to full-throated Mike Ross fan. Until that inevitable occurrence, Harvey would need to keep Mike out of Louis’s crosshairs. History had proven Louis to be an unstable meddler whenever he felt slighted.

The firm had taken on class action suits in the past, but Harvey had only been on the periphery of those, pitching in when required (or ordered to by Jessica). He’d never had to run the show, like he did now. He was more than up to the task, but having Mike on his team proved the difference between staying at the office until three in the morning while popping antacids like candy, and leaving at the semi-civilized hour of nine or ten o’clock to get a full, peaceful night of sleep, knowing that everything was proceeding as it should.

He spoke with Nathaniel Marsh occasionally, although they’d had to cancel their last dinner engagement. This was just as well, since Harvey would have been hard-pressed to conceal his dismay regarding Nate’s philandering ways. He’d warned him about Evan, but suspected he’d ignored Harvey’s excellent advice, and pursued her anyway.

A month after the hearing in front of Judge Bardot, Harvey received a text from Nathaniel: _“You were right about her. God damn it. Could you give me the name of a good florist?”_

Which meant either his wife had gotten wind of his dalliance, or his guilt had gotten the better of him. Hoping that the sex, at least, had been worth it, Harvey texted back with the name of his go-to florist.

 

******

 

There were thirty-four plaintiffs named in the lawsuit against Gilhart Manufacturing, twelve ex-Gilhart employees willing to testify, and five expert witnesses. Each one needed to be investigated, vetted, and deposed. All of their secrets, past and present, had to be ferreted out and evaluated, so there would not be any surprises when they went to trial.

Rick, Harvey had discovered, although thorough and meticulous when it came to research, lacked people skills. Mike, by contrast, had a knack for drawing out witnesses and plaintiffs alike, and getting them to confess to things missed even by Harvey’s excellent investigator. This, coupled with his eidetic memory (which he’d only mentioned to Harvey as an aside, a full three weeks into his employment), Rick’s yeoman-like work, and Harvey’s leadership, had everything lining up perfectly for the trial, which was scheduled to begin in less than three months, and which Harvey had every expectation of winning handily.

It almost felt too easy, which is why, when he received the notification from Gilhart that they had fired their attorneys, and retained new counsel, his only reaction to seeing Evan’s name listed as their new representation was, “Huh.”

“What?” As he did most afternoons, Mike lounged on the couch in Harvey’s office, files, papers and legal pads spread around him as he worked. Something in Harvey’s expression must have alerted him, because he sat up straighter, before rising slowly and walking over to Harvey’s desk to take the papers from his hand. He scanned rapidly, and then froze, eyes widening. “Shit.”

“Yeah.”

“Can she even do that? Isn’t there some sort of attorney-client privilege situation in play here? She was representing our clients less than four months ago.”

“We can argue that, yes, but I doubt we’d win.”

“Why the hell not?”

“She could argue inevitable discovery.”

“Does that even apply here?”

“I could make a case for it, and so could Evan. She’ll have the opportunity to depose each of the plaintiffs, just like we have, which will turn up everything she already knew about them.” He eyed Mike more closely, taking in the flush which had raced up his neck to his cheeks, and the faint look of panic in his eyes. “Are you going to be okay with this?”

“What? No, I’m not. Not really.” He took a moment to just breathe. “Scratch that. I’ll be fine. I can handle this.”

“You’re sure?”

“One hundred percent.”  Mike’s mouth twisted as he appeared to reconsider his answer. “Well, maybe ninety-seven percent. Definitely no less than ninety.”

“Don’t worry about it, Mike. You don’t have to be in the room for the depositions, or accompany us to court. Rick can handle second chair on his own.”

“No! I mean, I know he can, but I said I can handle this.” His jaw tightened in the mulish way Harvey had come to know all too well. “I’m not weak. I can do it. In fact –” He stopped, as if reconsidering what he’d been about to say.

“In fact …?”

“I know I haven’t said anything about this yet, but I’ve been meaning to ask … that is, I was sort of hoping you might let me take closing arguments.”

This surprised Harvey, but pleased him even more. Mike’s request confirmed what Harvey had seen in him from the start: along with his obvious intelligence and passion for the case, he possessed dedication, backbone and initiative, all qualities that went into making an excellent attorney. The Harvard clones had nothing on him.

“We can certainly keep that as an option. When we get closer to trial, work up a preliminary draft of what you want to say, and run it by me.”

Mike nodded, but he looked preoccupied. Tempting as it was to continuing quizzing him on his state of mind, Harvey let it drop. Mike had already insisted that he was fine working in opposition to Evan. Harvey hoped he was telling the truth. He would keep a close eye on him, to make sure that he didn’t begin to crumble under the pressure.

 

******

 

Before Mike came on board, Harvey had worked plenty of late nights with Rick, and with Louis, back in their early days together. He’d never felt the slightest desire to bend either of them over his desk, yank their pants down to their ankles, and shove his cock into their asses. Much as he would have liked to blame all the late nights with Mike for his distraction, he wasn’t in the habit of lying to himself. He wanted Mike – specifically Mike – and because that seemed an impossibility for now, his interest had turned, without him being aware at first, into a full-blown obsession.

Did Mike still return the interest? Usually so good at reading people, Harvey’s instincts failed him in this area. Mike admired him as an attorney, that was evident enough. He seemed to gravitate toward him, thus the long hours spent working in his office. They’d grown absurdly comfortable in one another’s presence, something Harvey had never expected from a subordinate.

Although Harvey generally got what he wanted, and rarely had to deny himself, he could be disciplined when he needed to be. It wasn’t easy, but he kept his attraction to Mike buttoned up inside, and treated him with a practiced, chilly disdain. Unfortunately, it gradually began to dawn on him that Mike craved his condescension like oxygen, and actively sought it out by provoking Harvey. It was subtle in the beginning, so much so that it took Harvey longer than it should have to pick up on it.

His strategy with Rick had been to keep him off-balance and guessing what was actually in his mind. With Mike, none of his usual bag of tricks worked. He laughed at Harvey’s stern façade, or just went ahead and called him on it. His intelligence went beyond proficiency at the job, lending his humor a sharpness and quickness which Harvey found breathtaking.

Following Gilhart’ s change of counsel to Evan, those flashes of humor grew less and less frequent, and Mike began to show signs of stress.

As the months passed, Mike’s bratty behavior grew more frequent, and more blatant, until Harvey could no longer fail to notice.

One Friday evening, with the trial three weeks away, Mike and Harvey were going over their witness list again. Mike wanted to call every single plaintiff to the stand, asserting that the sheer number of them would be enough to sway the jury. Harvey felt that they should take a more strategic approach, and choose the half dozen or so of them who would make the greatest impact.

“You’re dead wrong,” Mike stated with a firmness bordering on arrogance.

“You think so, Brooklyn Law? Is that what your extensive six months of experience are telling you?”

“Hey, if you want to lose this case out of laziness, that’s your call. I just think we owe our clients better than that.”

Harvey laid his pen down on the desk and pushed his laptop to the side, so he could get an unimpeded view of Mike. Across the room, he lay full length on Harvey’s couch, a derisive frown marring his features, his gaze directed at the piece of paper he held in his hand.

He’d gained a little weight since coming to work for Harvey, but remained whippet-thin. His hair was shorter than when they’d first met, although he’d at least learned to style it better. The biggest difference between then and now was the spark that had disappeared from his eyes. Tension tightened his shoulders, and he had a perpetual angry line between his eyes.

“What?” snapped Mike. He’d caught Harvey staring.

Harvey didn’t answer him, and didn’t avert his gaze. After another minute or so of continued scrutiny, Mike’s annoyance grew. He sat up and tossed the papers onto the coffee table. “Fuck it. I’m taking off for the night. Hopefully, you’ll manage to get you head out of your ass by Monday morning and admit that I’m right.”

“Stay right where you are,” ordered Harvey quietly.

“Excuse me?”

Harvey bit back a sigh. “Mike, is this case proving too much for you?”

At this suggestion, Mike’s mouth fell open. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Rising to his feet, Harvey stalked across the room, stopping directly in front of Mike, who remained seated. “I’m talking about your shitty attitude. It’s beyond tedious. When I hired you, I thought I was getting a grown goddamn man, not a child.” Mike opened his mouth to interrupt, but Harvey held up his hand, silencing him.

His intention had been to tear into Mike, and give him the full Pissed Off Harvey experience. At the sight of Mike’s expression – hurt, unsure, vulnerable – he faltered, remembering the treatment Mike had received from Evan. Was Harvey about to go down that same path? Time for a change of course.

Instead of continuing to loom threateningly over Mike, he took a seat next to him and let out a slow breath. Beside him, he could feel Mike relax slightly. “Did you ever find another Dom?” he asked, and immediately the tension was back. He didn’t look at Mike, waiting out the silence.

A shaky exhale from Mike. “Maybe?”

“Objection,” Harvey murmured. “Non-responsive.”

That teased a low laugh from Mike. “Overruled.” He flicked a glance in Harvey’s direction. “Fine. I think I’ve found one, but he doesn’t know it yet.”

“Are you so sure about that?”

Another glance from Mike, this one betraying his anxiety. “Pretty sure.”

“Have you approached him about it?”

“No. I’m exercising caution. I worry about history repeating itself.”

“In what way?” Harvey was fairly certain Mike was referring to him, but needed to hear it from him.

“Just … Evan, and that whole train wreck of a shit show.”

“Because she was your boss?”

Swallowing audibly, Mike nodded.

This was enough of an admission for Harvey. He placed a hand on Mike’s shoulder, hoping to ground him. Mike bowed his head, which did interesting things to Harvey’s insides. “You have to know that I would never treat you like she did.”

Mike’s eyes fluttered briefly shut. If he was surprised that Harvey had figured it out, he didn’t show it. “I think I know that. Still, I never thought things with Evan would end up that way.” His eyes shifted to Harvey, and back down to his knees. “Just for the sake of argument, how do you see it going between us? If we ever … you know … went down that road.”

Harvey considered the question for a moment. “What is it that you want? Or perhaps I should ask what you think you need?”

Mike answered immediately, ask if he’d already given this a great deal of thought. “The thing I need the most is boundaries. Well-defined boundaries. And a safe place to fall.” The corner of his mouth quirked up. “Also, I wouldn’t say no to frequent, energetic sex.”

If Harvey had still been a callow youth, he might have pumped a triumphant fist in the air. No, come to think of it, he’d never been the fist-pumping sort. The most he allowed himself now was a gentle smile. “Look at me, Mike.”

Mike did, but his gaze detoured to the floor for a second, as if he was debating whether or not to drop to his knees. Instead, he straightened his spine and looked Harvey in the eyes.

“I’m not Evan,” said Harvey. “I have no interest in stepping into her shoes.” He ignored the cheeky grin that stretched across Mike’s face. “We’re just weeks from trial, and we’ve got a lot on the line. Frankly, I’m worried about how you’ll react to seeing her in court, right across the aisle from us.”

Mike’s smile slipped away. “You don’t trust me.” He said it as if this had just now occurred to him, and the realization wounded him.

“I trust you to be a good attorney, but your emotions have been all over the place lately. I’d warn you not to let her get inside your head, but I can’t help but wonder if she’s already there, and has been all along.” He paused for a beat. “Is she?”

When Mike averted his gaze, Harvey guessed what his answer would be.

Mike nodded miserably. “It’s fucked up, but I hear her voice at odd moments, and I get these urges, like I need to tell her I’m sorry, and beg her to do … other things.”

Harvey didn’t have to ask what “other things.” He pictured the marks he’d found on Mike’s back, and hoped they’d disappeared by now. “You need someone to hurt you?” Harvey did not wish to be that person, but if Mike needed it ….

“I … no. Not like she did. But I like … Uh.” Mike’s face tightened. He blushed, but after a minute or so, he seemed to dredge up the nerve to continue. “I like your control, and your, uh, casual contempt.” He shivered as he said the words.

So, he’d been right about that. Harvey hid his smugness at having his suspicions confirmed. “Have you considered the possibility that you’re misreading me?”

“Sure, but whether it’s real or not, I react as if it is.”

“And how does it make you feel?”

“Hot and cold at the same time. Unbelievably, off the charts horny. Like I would do anything to gain back your respect, or failing that, to gain your forgiveness.”

Interesting. Humiliation kink? Praise kink? Or an intriguing amalgamation of the two? “What we’re not going to do,” he said, “is get involved again just before we go to trial.”

Mike’s shoulders slumped, and the corners of his mouth pulled down. Harvey palmed the back of his neck, and teased his ear with his thumb, fascinated by the effect this had on Mike. His look of discontent evaporated, and he seemed to melt, blinking slowly at Harvey, the picture of trust.

“I’d like to propose something to you.”

“Yes. To whatever you want.”

“Mike.” Harvey shook his head, smiling softly. “At least listen to what I’m suggesting first.” He watched Mike’s sweet expression of trust and longing turn to apprehension. “Pack your bags and come stay with me. You’ll have to sleep on my couch, but it’s every bit as comfortable as the one here, and that hasn’t seemed to be a problem thus far.”

“It was just that one time. After two nights without sleep.”

“I know. That’s all beside the point.” He tilted his head, trying to get a better look at Mike’s face. “I’m offering you what you asked for: boundaries. Stay with me starting tonight, and until the trial is over.”

“That’s it?”

“You’ll be required to follow a few simple rules. Nothing you can’t handle.”

“Simple, huh? Why does this feel like a trap?”

“It’s not a trap. I told you before, I’m not Evan.”

“Hm. Okay. What are the rules?”

Harvey nodded approvingly. “Good. Make sure you know what you’re getting into before you jump. As I said, they’re simple enough. You’ll drive into work with me in the morning, and go home with me at night. Unless we have to work late, you’ll be in bed before eleven. You’ll eat three healthy meals a day, cut back on the coffee and energy drinks.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad.”

“I’m not finished. This next part might be the most important. You’ll have to practice complete honesty with me.”

“I’ve never lied to you.”

“I’m talking about emotional honesty.”

Mike _hmph’d_. “Says the emotionally unavailable alpha male.”

Harvey’s jaw tightened in irritation. “This is work, Mike. Different rules. I think you’ll find me available enough in my own home.”

“So, what does this emotional honesty entail? Copious weeping? Primal screams? Trust falls and long, heartfelt discussions that go nowhere?”

It was a struggle not to laugh at Mike’s suggestions. “Not exactly. I just need you to tell me when things start to feel like too much for you. If you want a safe place to fall, I’m giving it to you. Whatever you tell me, I won’t use it against you.”

Mike frowned and bit his lip, expression pensive. “What happens if I break the rules?”

“Do you mean, will there be consequences?”

Mike nodded.

“Do you think there should be? Do you want there to be?”

Confusion furrowed Mike’s brow. “If not, what’s the point?”

“True. What do you think the consequences should be?”

“I suppose you could hit me. Spank me.”

“I’m not going to do that.”

“Withhold meals?”

“You need nourishment. You’re too thin as it is.”

“Hm.” Mike frowned. “We’re not having sex, so you can’t withhold that. You could threaten to pile on more work, but I don’t know how that would even be possible. There are only so many hours in a day. So … I’m out of ideas. What did you have in mind?”

Harvey smiled at him, less gentle than before. “I have to say, you’re demonstrating a disappointing lack of imagination. Let’s just say there will be punishment, and you won’t know what it is until the time comes that you misbehave. If you ever do, that is. And before you accuse me of turning into Evan, let’s be clear about one thing. Safewording is not only allowed, it’s encouraged.” He waited a few seconds, letting Mike absorb all that he’d said. “Should we give it the weekend, and see how it goes?”

Mike licked his lips and nodded again. “Sure.”

Only after he’d gotten what he wanted – almost everything – did Having feel a whisper of misgiving. Were they making a mistake? Even with all the best intentions in the world, he feared he might be dragging Mike into a repeat of the Evan debacle. His intentions were pure, though. Mostly pure. Brushing his misgivings aside, he stood up. “Good.” He gestured at the files stacked on the floor near the couch. “Grab as many of those as you can carry. We’re working from home this weekend.”


	4. Chapter 4

Working at home with Mike seated across from him proved to be both peaceful and productive. They’d had Ray detour to Mike’s Brooklyn apartment to pack a bag, and then picked up Chinese on the way to Harvey’s place. Watching Mike enthusiastically stuff his cheeks with moo shu pork and vegetable rolls was surprisingly gratifying, and he resolved to keep him well fed as long as he stayed with him. They’d started right in on the files they’d hauled from work, and Mike hadn’t snarked or complained even once.

So far, so good.

Even though they were making substantial progress, at eleven o’clock sharp, Harvey called a halt.

“Time for bed. Or in your case, couch.”

Mike tossed the file he was holding onto the coffee table and raised his arms over his head for a full-body stretch that ended with a huge yawn. “Can I brush my teeth first? Or will that violate the rules?”

“Of course you can brush your teeth. In fact, we’ll make it mandatory. Addendum one.”

Mike laughed at that. “Does your brain always default to legalese?”

Harvey just shook his head, amused. “I’ll grab you some sheets and blankets.”

Not making a move toward the bathroom, Mike watched Harvey as he left the room, to return half a minute later, loaded down with the promised sheets and blankets. “I wouldn’t mind, you know.”

Harvey understood him just fine, but he feigned ignorance, lifting one eyebrow. “Wouldn’t mind what?”

Instead of answering directly, Mike bit his lip and turned several shades of pink. “Full disclosure: before I met Evan, I slept around. Like, a lot.”

“But you stopped for her?”

“Sure. She owned me.” Seeing Harvey’s frown, Mike only shrugged. “Basically. It’s what we agreed to. What I agreed to.”

“Did you and she …?” Harvey wasn’t sure he wanted to know, but he was curious.

“Not often. There was the highly memorable pegging incident. Let’s just say it did not go well, and leave it at that. And … well … I have a tongue, and she was more than willing to coach me on how to use it.”

Even though Mike shrugged again, probably trying to appear unconcerned, Harvey could see that the memories ate at him. “Was there anyone else?”

“While I was with her? There was almost you, and that other, guy, who was also an almost.”

“And since you left her?”

Mike gave Harvey a look meant to convey something like, _you’re shitting me, right?_ “After you, you mean? I haven’t exactly had a lot of free time lately.”

“No. I suppose not.” This information helped to explain Mike’s recent bout of acting out. “That’s not going to change until after the trial. You and me? Also not going to happen until after.” _If at all_.

“Are you sure there’s no daylight on that?” Mike licked his lips. “I could give you another little demonstration of what I can do.”

Harvey was tempted. He mirrored Mike, licking his own lips, and shifted in his seat, trying to remind himself of all his excellent reasons for denying Mike – and himself – right now. “Keep showing me what a good boy you can be, and we can revisit this after the trial. Agreed?”

After only the briefest of hesitations, Mike nodded his agreement.

 

******

 

The weekend, Harvey decided when Monday morning arrived, had been a success. They’d made great progress on the case, Mike had been the model of near-perfect behavior, and he’d calmed noticeably. Evidently boundaries worked wonders for him. Boundaries notwithstanding, he’d intercepted a few of Mike’s speculative glances, and suspected he was imagining how it might go between them, if Harvey were to weaken, and bend the rules.

Harvey was certain that if he simply crooked his finger at Mike, he would come willingly. That might take care of their dual frustration, but Harvey remained leery of tipping them over into what would likely be a complicated, and – for Mike, at least – a potentially triggering relationship.

Preparations for the trial kicked into high gear that week. They worked long hours, but still managed to make it home before ten almost every night. When Mike began showing signs of growing restive again, Harvey dragged him along on his runs in the morning. They had one minor blowup as they settled in for their second weekend together, seated in the living room with a pizza on the table between them.

“Rick and I will handle the depositions,” said Harvey. They’d scheduled five days straight for Evan and her team to come to their office and depose witnesses. “You can review the transcripts afterwards to help with our strategy.”

“Afterwards? You want to keep me out of the room?”

“I’m just saying, maybe you should sit this one out.”

“One? It’s not just one, and you know it. She’s scheduled all week. Do you expect me to hide the entire time?”

“No. I’m simply suggesting that because of your history with her, it might be best if Rick handles this.”

Mike tossed his pizza slice back into the box. He’d only taken two bites. “Well, your suggestion is stupid.”

“Stupid?” Harvey could tell Mike had caught the anger vibrating beneath his mild tone by the way he reflexively sat up straighter. “Would you care to rephrase?”

Mike held out one hand in a placating gesture. “I’ll rephrase, but I have two points I’d like to make. First, yes, I have history with Evan, which is why I absolutely should be present at those depositions. I know her, and I can read her better than you can, even good as you are. Second, Rick is a great guy, but his people skills are for shit. If you’re going to counter that he needs the practice, then yes, he does. Let him practice on a different case, where the stakes aren’t as high.”

Harvey sat back, studying Mike. He’d made a valid argument. He could prove to be a valuable asset based on his knowledge of Evan, if he could manage to maintain his objectivity. And yes, Rick would likely be worse than useless, aside from his ability to handle the recording equipment. “Okay,” he finally conceded. “I’ll allow you in the room on two conditions.”

To Mike’s credit, he didn’t roll his eyes, or blurt out one of his customary snarky retorts. Instead, he waited in silence to hear Harvey’s terms.

“Condition number one: if I decide to remove you for any reason, you go, no questions and no arguments.”

“Agreed. What’s conditions number two?”

“You eat at least half of that pizza.”

Mike let out an incredulous laugh. “What if I’m not hungry?”

“Chew and swallow.”

“Harvey … “

“I’ve seen how you eat, which is rarely, and tiny portions. Maybe Evan wanted you rail-thin, but I’d rather see you at a healthy weight.” Mike’s expression remained stubborn. “Think of it as fuel You’re going to need it to make it through the next few weeks. So, chew, swallow, and repeat.”

Mike’s first bite was angry and theatrical, but he kept at it until he’d consumed the requisite amount. Harvey nibbled away at his own portion, pretending to focus on the file in front of him, when he was actually keeping a close eye on Mike. He might be prone to bouts of erratic, overly emotional behavior, but he was at heart earnest in in his desire to please, and to obey.

This recognition tripped a switch inside of Harvey, who possessed a corresponding desire – need? – to be obeyed. His profession fed that hunger, but not often enough. With Mike … it was strange. In some respects, he’d proven to be less of a challenge than Harvey had expected, or hoped. Still, watching him stuff pizza down his gullet, as if he’d needed Harvey’s permission to indulge in this simple, everyday pleasure, had feelings stirring to life inside of him that he hadn’t experienced in a long while.

He wouldn’t act on them, not yet, but right then he made a promise to himself that when this godforsaken trial was over, he’d give them both what they needed.

 

******

 

Harvey didn’t know quite what to expect from Mike when he faced Evan again for the first time since they’d parted ways. Recriminations? Pleas for forgiveness? Complete collapse beneath Evan’s poisonous scorn? None of that occurred. On the surface, professionalism prevailed in both of them. The fireworks, such as they were, were so subtle they were practically subterranean: sharp glances, shuffled feet, averted gazes and a low-level tension that seemed to vibrate at a frequency nearly undetectable by anyone not actively looking for it.

One disdainful glance at Mike was all Evan allowed herself. Harvey could almost feel Mike shrivel, as he was forced to swallow the realization that he was less than nothing to her. Always the competitor, Harvey resolved in that moment to not merely win, but to crush her.

Gary, Evan’s new associate, could have passed for Mike’s twin if you squinted hard and ignored the vacant look of adoration he directed at Evan when she snapped her fingers and pointed at a chair. Today, Gary was the one carrying her handbag. Harvey gave Mike’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze, and they took their places at the table.

Evan settled in for a thorough interrogation of the first witness.  She was tough, as Harvey had expected, but he and Mike – mostly Mike – had anticipated the approach she would take, and had prepped the witness accordingly. He held firm, and never wavered from his story.

“Before we move on,” said Evan after an hour had passed, “I should mention that my client has asked me to inform you that if you’d like to avoid trial, they’re willing to settle.”

Harvey had expected as much. He lifted an eyebrow and waited.

“Half a million each,” Evan continued, “and non-disclosure agreements all around.”

Before Harvey could respond (and advise her that she was out of her mind), Mike, eyes down as if addressing the tabletop, snarled, “You never did give a damn about the victims.”

A long-suffering sigh from Evan. “Michael, try to behave like a professional, won’t you?” She gave Harvey a pitying smile. “I imagine your buyer’s remorse is kicking until full gear right about now.”

Rick and the witness both squirmed, appearing uncomfortable at her blatant hostility. Gary smirked meanly at Mike.

“No remorse at all,” said Harvey. “I’ve even extended a permanent job offer to Mike, based on his excellent performance thus far.”

The part about the job offer was pure fabrication, but he had every intention of keeping Mike at Pearson Specter Litt, even if he hadn’t mentioned it to him yet. Mike’s eyes widened, but he didn’t call Harvey on the lie.

“How interesting,” responded Evan, not appearing at all interested.  “His … _skills_ … must have improved underneath you.”

Harvey tightened his jaw, refusing to rise to the bait. “Perhaps we could return to the matter at hand?”

“Absolutely. Let’s start with the offer on the table.”

“The only thing I have to say to that is thanks for the laugh. Do you have any further questions for this witness?”

He could tell he’d struck a nerve, even though she hid it well.

“No. I’m done with him. Let’s move on.”

Harvey permitted himself a glance at Mike to gauge how he was holding up. Though still visibly seething, he had himself under control. Satisfied, Harvey thanked the witness and asked Rick to escort him to the elevator. When he returned he had the next witness on the list, and the questions began anew.

 

******

 

As the week of depositions continued, Harvey was cautiously optimistic that Mike’s brief outburst on the first day was the worst he’d see. He could feel Mike’s tension, anger and anxiety rolling off him in waves, but he maintained a surface calm, and kept his mouth obediently shut. Instead of unloading on Harvey once they got home at night, he channeled his energy into work, combing over the witness profiles, again and again, and working on his closing arguments, which he had not yet shown to Harvey.

While grateful for his restraint, this intense focus of Mike’s had the distracting side-effect of making him that much more appealing. Even as Harvey congratulated himself for having the forethought to keep Mike close, it became more difficult to control his own lewd impulses. He found himself constantly picturing him naked, picturing him spread out and moaning with need, and picturing himself teasing Mike, keeping him on edge for hours.

At least once a day, he was forced to use his own hand to release the building pressure. At night, knowing that Mike slept only a few feet from his bedroom door, it took every bit of Harvey’s self-control to not stalk out there and climb on top of him.

He doubted that Mike would object. He’d seen the surreptitious glances he shot in Harvey’s direction. Mike wanted it as much as Harvey did. Most days, he regretted the hold he’d placed on advancing their relationship until after the trial. It had occurred to him that if Mike acted out during the depositions, that would be all the excuse he needed to take drastic steps to settle him down. And by drastic, he meant throwing him onto the bed and fucking his tight little hole until he had no room left for thoughts about Evan, or the case, or anything but Harvey.

He appreciated Mike’s good behavior, and resented it at the same time, which he recognized as both absurd and irrational, but there it was. Maybe he should have taken the client’s settlement offer. At least then he would be free to act on his fantasies regarding Mike. He wouldn’t betray his clients like that. Until the case was over, they would simply have to continue as they had been, and hope the trial didn’t drag on for too long.

The final witness was scheduled for Friday afternoon. Dr. Gayle Dietrich was a psychologist who specialized in treating trauma survivors. Harvey had recruited her to lay out the lifetime of expenditures many of the plaintiffs would incur, and to estimate total costs.

“Don’t you think it’s naïve,” asked Evan, half an hour into her questioning, “to attempt to put a monetary value on emotional pain?”

“I’m not placing a value on their pain, I’m simply supplying a concrete figure of what coping with that pain might cost the victims.”

Evan let out a soft snort. “Victims. Right. Should we really call them that? Most of these people lining up with their hands out were secondhand victims at best. Most of them weren’t anywhere near those cars when that accidents took place. In fact, I don’t see victims. I see greedy opportunists looking for a free ride from a corporation who happens to be successful enough to have the requisite deep pockets.”

Even Gary appeared confused by this line of attack.

Dr. Dietrich’s expression was one of unalloyed incredulity.  “Having your husband or father ripped suddenly from your life absolutely makes one a victim. Having your life irrevocably changed is shattering. To suggest otherwise, is to demonstrate a lack of compassion and empathy which I cannot even begin to fathom.”

“Kindly confine yourself to answering the questions.”

“I didn’t hear a question, just an ill-informed attack.”

“You require a question? All right, how about this. Why is it everyone insists on being a victim these days? What’s the allure? I mean, besides that greed I mentioned earlier.”

Looking to Harvey for help, Dr. Dietrich asked, “I’m I actually expected to answer that?”

Harvey might have called a halt to the questioning, but up to this point she’d been holding her own just fine against Evan, and he sort of wanted to hear her answer. “Do your best,” he murmured.

Dr. Dietrich threw up her hands. “Fine. People who suffer trauma, or people who suffer loss, are victims. Sometimes nobody is at fault, and the trauma must be chalked up to fate. The multiple traumas in question were entirely avoidable. Your scorn for people in distress over said trauma notwithstanding, they suffer, and quality of life is impacted.”

Evan cut her gaze briefly to Mike, her expression going sly all of a sudden. “What if I told you that according to your definition, we have a bona fide victim right here in the room with us.”

Mike had been tapping his pen on the table, taking in the sparring, but not reacting. Now, his pen froze, and his head came up. Wide blue eyes clearly telegraphed his alarm. He recognized the trap for what it was, even before Harvey did.

Appearing confused, Dr. Dietrich looked to Harvey for guidance. “I’m sorry. I don’t …”

“No, you wouldn’t. There’s no reason you should. I’m referring to Mr. Specter’s right-hand man over there, Mike Ross, the tragic orphan who lost his parents to a car crash when he was merely eleven years old.”

“Evan,” said Harvey warningly, “that’s enough.”

“But look at him,” she continued, undeterred. “See how calm. See what a success he’s made of his life. Tell us, Michael, how many years of expensive therapy did it require to patch your fragile psyche back together?”

“You know very well,” Mike ground out.

“That’s right. Not one hour on the couch. Not one dime. So, tell me again why my client should be forced to pay such exorbitant sums, when here you sit, actual living proof that life goes on as before, even after a tragedy?”

Mike leapt to his feet, hands curled into fists. “You fucking bitch.”

Harvey rose more slowly. “I think this is a good time for a break.”

Mike’s jaw worked, as if he was considering and rejecting a thousand scathing retorts to Evan. When he finally spoke, it was in response to Harvey, forcing the words out. “Good idea. A break is exactly what we need.” He stomped out of the room.

With a wary look at Evan, Dr. Dietrich asked, “Am I finished here?”

“Yes,” answered Harvey, “we’re finished.”

Evan shrugged, unconcerned.

“Let’s call it a week,” said Harvey. “It’s nearly five. I’ll have Rick messenger you video copies, and have a transcript typed up as well.” He couldn’t get Evan and Gary out of his firm soon enough. They packed up their things, and exited the room behind Dr. Dietrich and Rick.

Alone in the room, Harvey allowed his shoulders to slump, and let out a slow breath. They’d nearly made it through the week without a personal attack from Evan. He could only hope that was the worst she’d had, and that damage to Mike’s equilibrium proved minimal.

He’d received word this morning that the trial had been moved up on the docket, and would be starting in a week and a half. They were going to win. He could feel it. Of course, that assumed that Evan had shown all her cards this week. He suspected she had, because that last jab at Mike had the distinct odor of desperation.

He supposed he should go check on Mike, to ensure that he was all right. He walked down the hall to the associates’ bullpen, but Mike’s chair was empty. Assuming he’d headed to Harvey’s office, he backtracked. Passing the men’s room, he was surprised to hear a loud argument in progress. One voice he recognized as Mike’s. When a woman’s voice answered, Harvey nearly groaned out loud. He pushed through the door to find Mike backed up again the sinks, with Evan haranguing him, and Gary standing nearby with his arms crossed, looking like an idiot attack dog.

“If I was so fucking okay,” Mike was shouting at Evan, “I never would have let you treat me the way you did.”

“You little hypocrite. You loved every second of it.”

They both stopped when they caught sight of Harvey. He let the thick discomfort in the room settle for a few seconds before he spoke. “Mike, wait for me in my office.”

Mike hesitated for a split second. Then, appearing only too happy to get away from Evan, he left without a word.

Gary took a step closer to Evan, perhaps to protect her from Harvey, or to seek protection for himself. His furtive movement drew Harvey’s attention and he whirled to face him directly, pointing a finger in his face. “Get the fuck out of my building.”

Foolishly, instead of obeying immediately, Gary turned to Evan. “I don’t have to do what he says, right?”

“Oh, get the hell out of here,” she replied, rolling her eyes.

Harvey and Evan watched as an unhappy Gary scuttled out of the room.

“Have you fucked him yet?” asked Evan, forestalling Harvey. “What am I saying? Of course you have. Tell me something: are the orgasms worth putting up with his shitty attitude?”

“There was never anything wrong with Mike’s attitude. If you hadn’t been too busy being a terrible mentor, and a worse Domme, you would have figured that out.”

She continued to smile, smug and infuriating. “He needs a firm hand. You’ll find that out soon enough. Or maybe you already have.” She took a step closer, whispering conspiratorially, “And isn’t he the most delicious creature when he screams? Gary blubbers like a baby, but my Michael …” She shivered.

“He’s not yours.”

“He’ll always belong to me, Harvey. How could you ever understand the things we shared?”

Harvey considered a thousand different ways to pound her into dust, and rejected them all. She wasn’t worth the effort. Before he left, he couldn’t resist one parting shot. “How are things at your club?” After he’d reported her bad behavior, he’d followed up with the owners, and knew that her membership had been withdrawn.

Her tightening features, and the accompanying blaze of anger in her eyes told him he’d scored a direct hit.

“I’ll see you in court,” he said, and left her there.

 

******

 

Mike was quiet when Harvey returned to his office, and refused to be drawn into a discussion of what had happened with Evan. It was only five o’clock, but Harvey judged that an early night would do them both good. Mike appeared surprised when he announced they were leaving, but didn’t question the decision.

Perhaps sensing the tension between them, Ray drove them home in silence. He gave Harvey his customary mock salute when he was released for the weekend, and then Mike and Harvey were alone.

“What do you want for dinner?” asked Harvey as they rode his private elevator up.

“I’m not hungry.”

“No backsliding allowed.”

“I said, I’m not hungry. Stop treating me like a child.”

“You have to eat. Don’t let her get inside your head like this.”

Mike flopped down onto the couch, legs stretched out in front of him, with his head resting on the back. “Get inside? She’s been there. She’s always there, telling me what a fucking failure I am.”

Harvey went into the kitchen to pour them each a scotch, and then returned to hand one down to Mike.

“You’re not a failure.”

Mike took a large gulp of his drink, and grimaced. “You don’t think so? I was a failure as a friend, and a student.”

“You got your law degree.”

“Not from Harvard.” Mike drank again. “I was a failure as a sub, and as Evan’s associate.”

“She wasn’t a good fit for you, in either case. That’s on her, not you.”

“And now,” Mike continued, as if he hadn’t heard Harvey, “apparently I’m a failure as a son.”

This drew Harvey up short. He stared down at Mike, confused. “Okay, that one you’re going to need to explain.”

“Why didn’t I hurt enough when they died? How could I succeed in anything in my life after losing them?”

Harvey sat next to Mike on the couch. “That has got to be the most idiotic thing you’ve said all week. You overcame a tragedy in your childhood, and you think that makes you a bad son?” He drank, shaking his head. “Talk about tortured logic.”

One side of Mike’s mouth quirked up, and he let out a reluctant sounding huff of laughter. “Yeah. Maybe.” He took another sip. “But, see, that’s what she does. She gets inside your head and fucks everything up in there.”

“Don’t let her do that. Don’t let her win.”

Mike’s only response to that was a weary sigh.

“Seriously, Mike. You have to let it go.”

“And how do I do that?”

“You can start by eating dinner with me. Because I’m betting Evan didn’t let you indulge in excess calories all that often.”

“Excess?” Mike’s laugh was bitter. “Some weekends I was lucky to get a dry crust of bread out of her. She always said my body belonged to her, and she wanted me skinny.”

“You didn’t belong to her then, and you certainly don’t now.” _He’ll always belong to me Harvey._ He wondered how much scotch it would take to drown out Evan’s smug, sneering voice.

“That’s the problem,” said Mike.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I think …” Mike shook his head, mouth a grim line. “Never mind.”

Harvey shifted slightly, turning so he could watch Mike’s face more closely. “No, tell me. Honesty, remember?”

Tipping his glass, Mike swallowed the remaining scotch, and then licked his lips. “The time I spent with Evan might have been completely fucked up, in the end, but I did learn some things about myself in the process.”

Harvey had the urge to place a hand on Mike’s leg, or to give his shoulder a squeeze. He did neither.  “Tell me. What did you learn?”

“That I have this need to belong to somebody. I belonged to my grandmother, until she died. I belonged to my buddy, Trevor, until I recognized that every unwise decision in my life could be traced to him. I belonged – temporarily – to a string of men at that first club, and some of them were good to me, but most of them only wanted to feed themselves on my pain. And then Evan came along.” He shook his head, staring down into his empty glass. “And … that happened.” He turned his damp, blue gaze on Harvey. “If I don’t belong to Evan, who do I belong to?”

“You belong to yourself.”

Mike’s blinked slowly, and turned away, seeming dissatisfied with Harvey’s answer.

“It’s not a bad thing, Mike.”

“What if … I mean, maybe ...” Mike gulped air, and straightened his back. Before Harvey realized what Mike was going to do, he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Harvey’s mouth. The kiss was tentative, not demanding. Mike jerked back, and then froze. “Sorry,” he whispered.

Harvey palmed the side of his neck. “No. Don’t be sorry.” He smiled. “I’ve been wanting to do that again for months.” Harvey returned the kiss, adding heat, and sliding his tongue between Mike’s lips. Mike sighed into Harvey’s mouth, and grabbed handfuls of his shirt with a desperate sort of strength.

When Mike made a small, desperate sound in the back of his throat, all of Harvey’s good intentions flew out the window. He didn’t want to discuss, or rationalize, or leave space for regrets or second thoughts, so he kept kissing Mike, cradling his head in his hands, then pulled him into his lap, so that his knees straddled Harvey’s thighs. Mike’s erection pressed against Harvey’s, and it felt like heaven. Harvey ground them together, kneading Mike’s bottom, and tonguing all the way to his tonsils.

When they finally came up for air, Harvey leaned his head against Mike’s shoulder. “I want you,” he said, simple and stark.

Mike’s long fingers massaged the back of Harvey’s neck. “Good.”

Harvey had had enough of denying them both, and of arguing himself out of this. He stood up and held his hand out to Mike. “Come to bed with me?”

“All you had to do was ask.”

 

******

 

Harvey knelt behind Mike, savoring the view. He cupped his ass, squeezing lightly, and then pulled his cheeks apart and rubbed his thumb over his puckered hole, making Mike whimper. He leaned down and swiped his tongue where his thumb had been. Mike cursed under his breath. When Harvey stabbed the tip of his tongue into Mike’s hole, flicking it in and out, Mike let out a strangled yell.

For long minutes, Harvey stayed where he was, pushing his tongue more deeply into Mike, fluttering it inside him, until he had Mike moaning nonstop. He pulled out and nipped one cheek. Mike squeaked in surprise.

Since Harvey knew all too well how long it had been since Mike had been fucked, he took his time preparing him, enjoying every needy mewl, and desperate gasp. His lube-slick fingers poked into Mike, massaging his channel, stuffing him full. Mike panted, kneeling and hunched over the pillows, which he clutched against his chest. When Mike was squirming, and muttering low, anguished curses, Harvey removed his fingers and reached for a condom.

It was just as well that Mike was facing away from him, so he didn’t witness Harvey’s shaking hands that fumbled with the wrapper, and took two tries to roll the condom onto his aching cock. He swiped lube up his length, nudged Mike’s hole with his cockhead, and pressed forward with careful, agonizing slowness, not stopping until his groin snugged up to Mike’s ass.

The feel of being inside Mike was as amazing as he remembered. With fingers digging into Mike’s hips, he held still, letting Mike adjust to him, while he breathed in and out, deep and steady, struggling to maintain control, so this wouldn’t be over too soon.

Finally, when he felt capable of continuing, Harvey began to move, rocking in and out of Mike, slow and easy, dragging fingertips down his spine, touching his shoulder, and neck, and the shell of his ear, the exploration becoming a meditation of sorts. _This is Mike,_ he thought, _and this, and this, all perfect, all Mike._

Mike threw him a quizzical look over his shoulder. “Come on, old man,” he breathed, eyes shining, “I know you have higher gears than that.” His entire body trembled under Harvey’s hands.

Harvey shook his head at Mike’s impatience. “Just so you know, I’m not getting off until you do. Go on. Touch yourself.”

Mike reached for his cock and jerked himself off, eyes squeezed shut. It only took a few tugs, and then, “Fu-u-u-ck,” he groaned as he painted Harvey’s sheets with sticky white ropes. He was beautiful when he came.

Harvey let out an answering groan, and picked up the pace, pounding into Mike, shaking the bed, racing toward a finish line he never wanted to reach. His spine tingled, his vision went sparkly, and he raised his head, shuddering and gasping as matchless pleasure ripped through him.


	5. Chapter 5

Five days before the trial was scheduled to begin, Harvey arrived back from a meeting across town with another client, to discover that in his absence he had received a message from one of their key expert witnesses, stating that he would no longer be able to testify, due to a family emergency.

“Fuck.” He dialed Mike’s extension, but there was no answer. “Donna, where the hell is Mike?” he called to her.

“He went to lunch with Louis.”

This was the last thing Harvey expected to hear. He stood and walked out to Donna’s desk.

“Why would he do that? Why didn’t he say anything to me?”

“You weren’t here. Louis nabbed him right out of your office.”

“Shit. I need him. We have a bit of a crisis on our hands. Where did they go?”

With a dramatic sigh, Donna lifted her phone and dialed a three-digit extension. “Norma? What’s the 10-20 on Cranky Eagle and Little Shrub?”

“What the hell?”

Donna lifted one finger, shushing Harvey as she listened, nodding occasionally.  “Uh huh. Uh huh. Oh, cripes, not this again. He never learns, does he?” She laughed at something the other woman said. “I know, right? Rutting Badger is going to be so pissed.” As she said this, she eyed Harvey. “Right. Understood. Over and out.”

“Really?” he said. “Rutting Badger?”

“Don’t blame me. Norma came up with the names. If you and Mike weren't putting out sex pheromones at horny teenager levels, you might have been granted a more dignified code name, so that's on you.”

Harvey closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger, and just breathed for a few seconds. “Where? That's all I need to know. Where is Mike?”

“At Louis' club. Don't freak out, but do you remember that bullshit Louis pulled with pre-Rick?”

“His name was Brian.” He’d been Harvey’s associate right after he became senior partner, but hadn’t even lasted a year. As Harvey recalled the incident Donna had hinted at, involving Tom Keller and strong weed, cold fury filled him. “Goddamn Louis. I am going to murder him to death.”

“Maybe just murder him a little, until you have all the facts.”

 

******

 

Louis’s club was located several blocks away, not far from the park. The first floor held a gym, squash and handball courts, and a juice bar. Valuable outdoor Manhattan real estate was taken up by the tennis courts and a terrace bar. One floor up, an exclusive restaurant and smoking lounge catered to members only. The top five floors contained rooms where overnight guests could stay.

Remembering the Brian incident, Harvey headed for the tennis courts first. He’d guessed correctly. Louis was nothing if not predictable. He and Mike were dressed in tennis whites, playing on the center of three courts, all of which were in use at the moment.  

Harvey took a moment to observe Mike in action, and found himself fighting a smile. He was the worst tennis player Harvey had ever seen, outside of summer camp when he was twelve. He hacked at the ball, usually coming nowhere near it, and when he was lucky enough to make contact, it popped up in the air, or sailed off in any direction except the correct one. While Harvey watched, one player on another court, who seemed vaguely familiar, shot Louis an annoyed glare.

Mike looked good in the outfit, though. Maybe Harvey would sign him up for lessons if things ever slowed down enough at work. Despite his spastic movements on the court today, Harvey knew he was capable of a certain degree of athletic grace, given the right situation. He pictured Mike they way he’d been last night, crouched over Harvey and riding his cock, muscular thighs bunching and flexing …

Too warm all of a sudden, Harvey judged it was time to interrupt. As Louis prepared to blast another serve across the net, Harvey stuck his hands in his trouser pockets and strolled across the court, stopping a few feet in front of Louis.

Louis dropped his arms. “Harvey? What the hell? We’re in the middle of a game.”

Mike remained silent. A glance over Harvey’s shoulder showed him looking every bit as confused as Louis sounded. His racket dangled from one hand.

“Mike,” said Harvey, “time to hit the showers. I’ll see you back at the office. Louis? Might I have a word with you?”

Mike’s expression shifted from confused, to relieved and grateful. He trotted off the court, leaving Harvey alone with Louis. “I’ll give you a chance to explain.” Harvey glanced at his watch. “You have two minutes.”

“Hello to you too, Harvey. I don’t have to explain a goddamn thing to you, and by the way, your Brooklyn Law charity case can’t play tennis for shit.”

"I didn’t hire him to play tennis. I hired him to practice law, which I needed him to be doing a half hour ago, but he wasn’t at the office. Why not?"

“Because he was here with me. Obviously.”

“Doing what, precisely? And if you say, playing tennis, I’ll drag that ball machine over here and aim it straight up your ass.”

"What was he doing? Earning that ridiculous salary we're paying him. And before you get your panties even more twisted up, don't forget, I still supervise the associates. I had an important assignment for him today, which you’ve now thwarted."

Harvey's jaw clenched, and his teeth ground together. He imagined how good it would feel to plant a fist in the middle of Louis’s smug face. "Goddamn it, Louis. Can you just once learn from past mistakes? The last thing I need right now is for Mike to return to the office high as a kite. Exactly how many pothead clients do you intend for the firm to represent?”

Louis rested the head of his racket on the court surface and spun it. He maintained his defiant expression for a few more seconds, but then seemed to recognize Harvey's extreme (borderline homicidal) agitation. He let out a huffy sigh. "I didn’t bring him here to get high, okay? Happy now?”

“Louis, I can honestly say that I’m about as far from happy at this moment, as I’ve ever been in my life. I’ll ask you again: why did you bring Mike here today?”

“Like I said – or implied, if you ever bothered to listen to me – I’m trying to sign a new client. I assume you’ve heard of Joseph Malden?” He jerked his head to the side, indicating one of the players in the adjacent court.

Harvey realized now why he’d seemed familiar. The financial wizard regularly graced the cover of _Forbes._ “Sure. I also know he’s happy with his current representation, and not looking to make a change.”

“That’s because you’re not tapped into the financial pipeline like I am. His current counsel is about to go down on fraud charges. Every firm in the city will be on him like jackals on a juicy slice of prime rib. I was looking for an advantage. Mike would have been just the incentive Joseph Malden needed to choose us."

“Why would you think that?”

“A little birdie told me … things.”

“Explain. Now.”

Louis gave the racket another spin, and then spun it in the opposite direction. “I had lunch with Evan Smith yesterday, and let’s just say she clued me in to particular ways in which Mike’s interests might intersect with those of Joseph Malden.” He shrugged. “I would complain that you should have vetted Mike more carefully, but this could actually work out in our favor, if you’d only let me throw them together for an hour in one of those upstairs rooms. Mike had all but agreed when you showed up.”

Harvey's stomach roiled queasily at Louis’ words. He could guess what those “interests” were that Louis had hinted at. "What did you threaten him with?"

"Surprisingly little. Termination. Random drug testing. I'm well within my rights."

Harvey jabbed a finger in Louis' face. "This isn't over." Without giving him a chance to respond, he spun away and headed for the exit at speed.

 

 

*******

 

Mike was working in Harvey’s office when he returned. He glanced up, fingers hovering over the keys of his laptop. “Rick says Berman cancelled.”

If Harvey had expected him to appear guilty, or even sheepish, he was disappointed.

“We’ll talk about that in a minute. First, I’d like you to tell me what happened with Louis.”

Mike frowned. “Not much to tell. He invited me to lunch. I didn’t find out about the tennis until we got there. Good think I enjoy humiliation.” Harvey wasn’t sure if he was serious or not.

“You could have said no.”

“He didn’t seem to think so. But it seemed like a good opportunity to get to know one another better. He hasn’t exactly warmed to me since I’ve been here.”

“Tell me about Joseph Malden.”

Mike’s expression grew guarded. “It’s not a big deal. It was bound to happen sooner or later.”

This was not the response Harvey had been expecting. He tilted his head to one side, squinting at Mike, and wondering if he knew him at all. “What was bound to happen?”

“That I’d run into someone from, you know, before. He belonged to the same club as Evan, until they kicked him out.”

“Did you ever – ”

“With him? No way. He’s the kind of dom they warn subs about.”

Unless Mike was an excellent dissembler – and Harvey knew he was not – he hadn’t been aware of Louis’ plans for him. He had to ask, though. “Do you know why Louis asked you there today?”

A rueful smile curved Mike’s mouth. “If it was for a relaxing game of tennis, I’m sure he was disappointed. I think I had him on the verge of tears a couple of times.”

Harvey didn’t bother to sugarcoat it. “Malden is going to be looking for new representation before the week is out. Louis knew he would be there today. He planned to use you as incentive.”

The smile drained from Mike’s face as the implications sank in. “But how would Louis even know about Malden? Or about me?” His gaze hardened. “Did you say something to him?”

“What? No. Absolutely not.” He hated to deal Mike another blow, but he had to know. “Louis had lunch with Evan yesterday.”

“Ah.” Mike swallowed visibly and stared past Harvey. His blues eyes shone with a complicated mix of emotions, the most obvious of which was anger. “We need to pulverize her in court.”

Face grim, Harvey nodded his approval. “That’s the plan.” He remembered the reason he’d been looking for Mike in the first place. “Speaking of which …”

“Are … are we okay, Harvey?” Mike looked worried. “We are, aren’t we? I never would have gone along with Louis’ plans, no matter what he threatened. You know that, right?”

Harvey shoved some file folders out of the way and sat next to Mike on the couch. cupping the side of his face. “Of course we are. None of this was your fault.”

“You looked so angry when you showed up on the tennis court.”

“Not with you. Louis has a history of … misdeeds. I thought – ” Harvey crimped his lips together and shook his head. “Remind me sometime to tell you about my first associate, Brian, and the whole Tom Keller fiasco. Not right now, though. Let’s figure out this latest wrinkle.”

“What are we going to do about Louis?”

“I seriously doubt we’ll have to do anything. No one tortures Louis like Louis does. Once he cycles through this latest drama, he’ll likely be all apologies. You might even get a mug out of the deal.”

“Okay. That’s … weird.”

Harvey grunted and stood up, returning to his desk. “You don’t know the half of it.

 

******

 

No self-important receptionist attempted to bar Harvey’s entrance. When he told him who he was there to see, the young man dialed Evan’s number right away, and told her who was waiting in the lobby. Minutes later, she strolled out, as cool and stylish as he remembered, sizing him up as if she’d missed her last several meals, and he would fill the void nicely.

“Harvey, you couldn’t wait until next week to see me at trial? Should I be flattered, or worried?”

“Definitely not flattered.”

“Disappointing. I’m slammed today, but I suppose I could spare you a few minutes. Let’s go to my office.”

They were both quiet as she led him down the hall to an attractively decorated office which, he noted smugly, was nowhere near as big as his. They sat on opposite sides of her desk.

“Come to talk settlement?” she asked.

“Hardly, unless you want to skip the trial, and pay what my clients are asking.”

“In your dreams.”

Their sparring felt forced and mechanical, as if each expected it of the other, but there was no feeling behind it. It occurred to him that if he’d succeeded in getting her into bed, their sex might have gone the same way.

“I want you to stop your harassment of Mike Ross.”

Her eyebrows lifted in elegant, entirely feigned surprise. “Harassment? Whatever do you mean?”

 “I mean, you set him up with Louis and Malden.”

“Oh, calm down. Just because you’re screwing … Ah. There it is. The look. That kid. He has a way of getting under your skin, doesn’t he?”

Harvey gave a humorless laugh. “I didn’t think anything got under your skin.” He might have said the same about himself, before he met Mike. “Tell me the truth. Is this about him, or about me?”

“Heavens, what an ego.” Her false smile slipped, and malice shone from her eyes. “I don’t give a shit that you helped yourself to my leftovers. You two deserve each other. And don’t delude yourself that I harbor any desire for you. You may be pretty, but you’ve proven to be disappointingly sentimental.”

Harvey nearly blurted out an incredulous, “ _Me?_ ” but perhaps she had a point. With Mike, none of his old rules seemed to apply. “Then why the campaign of harassment against Mike?”

Her eyes narrowed. “You got me blackballed from my club. I don’t take kindly to those who interfere in my life.”

“Mike doesn’t even know about that. That was all me. It had nothing to do with him.”

“Oh, but you did it for him. So gallant. That was my first clue that you wanted him for more than his questionable legal expertise.”

“There’s nothing questionable about it.” Harvey took a moment to try to get his temper in check. “Would you like to know what I think this is about?”

“Oh, do enlighten me.”

“This is about you not wanting anyone else playing with your toys, even if all you wanted them for was to break them.”

A twitch of anger tightened her face. “You’re so off base, you’re not even in the right ballpark.”

He saw through her bluster. She might not want Mike back, but she was definitely pissed that he was with Harvey now, and thriving. Shaking his head, he stood to go, but couldn’t resist a parting shot. “He’s mine now, and all of your scheming won’t change that. If I were you, I’d focus on the trial, and leave Mike the hell alone.”

If she had a snappy retort, he left too quickly to hear it.

 

******

 

Two more work days, and one more weekend before the trial. On Thursday, Rick came down with a bad cold, and Harvey sent him home, not out of a sudden burst of compassion, but to prevent him from passing whatever he had to himself or Mike.

Friday, they performed a final review of their strategies for all the witnesses, which took most of the day. Mike showed Harvey what he’d drafted for closing arguments, and he nodded approvingly.

“This is good, Mike. Keep in mind, you might have to tweak it a bit, depending on what happens during the trial.”

“Of course.”

Harvey took a moment to assess Mike. “I know we’ve discussed this, but I’m going to ask you one more time: will you be able to keep your cool in the face of personal attacks from Evan?”

Mike frowned thoughtfully. “She’s not going to do or say anything in open court. That would only make her look bad, and piss off the judge.”

“That’s right. Cornering you in the men’s room is more her style.”

“You don’t have to worry about me. I promise.”

Harvey’s gaze on him was steady and serious as he tried to discern how truthful Mike was being. Satisfied by what he saw, he nodded. “Okay. I think we’re as ready as we can be.” He checked his watch. Five o’clock. “Why don’t we take off a little early? I’ll take you somewhere nice for dinner.”

Mike nodded, but he seemed distracted.

“What’s wrong?” he asked him. “Do we need to have another discussion about you consuming an adequate number of calories every day?” He hoped not. Mike had been doing much better in that area.

“No. I was only wondering … that is, I’d been thinking …”

Harvey held back a sigh. “You might as well tell me.”

“Okay. I know you got Evan banned from her club.”

Mike didn’t appear angry about it, so Harvey shrugged. “I didn’t realize you knew.”

“Evan told me.”

Harvey’s gaze sharpened. “Oh? She’s been in touch with you?” She hadn’t mentioned anything about that the other day, but then he supposed that was not out of character for her.

Mike turned pink, and his mouth twisted. “She texts me sometimes. I don’t respond. It’s fine.”

“Hm. Let’s put getting you a new phone on our to-do list for the weekend.”

“Fine. Whatever. But the reason I brought it up, about the club, is that I was a member too. I still am. And I thought that maybe, if you wanted to, we could spend some time there tonight.”

Harvey stared at him, surprised by the request. “I thought you were done with all that.”

“I’m done with Evan. I miss … certain things.”

“Such as?”

Blowing out a noisy breath, Mike turned away, appearing as if he wished he’d never brought up the subject. “I don’t know.”

“Of course you know. Tell me.”

Mike’s gaze darted around Harvey’s office, betraying his nerves. “The control. Giving up control, that is. I suppose that’s the main thing. It quiets my mind.”

“Why tonight? Are you nervous about the trial? You just said I didn’t have to worry about you.”

“You don’t. Forget I ever said anything.” Mike crossed his arms over his chest and appeared as if he was done with the subject.

Harvey wasn’t. He sighed, struggling to hold onto his patience. “Don’t shut down on me. Talk to me. Please.”

“It’s not about Evan. Not specifically. It’s a little bit about the trial. Noise in my head, like static. Generalized anxiety. Too many thoughts circling around. It’s distracting.”

Harvey remembered something Mike had once told him. “And Evan knew how to make those voices stop.”

Mike nodded miserably.

“Are you saying you want me to hurt you like Evan did?”

Mike’s too-bright gaze shot to Harvey, and he gave his head a rough shake.

After thinking over everything Mike had just told him, Harvey came to a decision. “We’re still going out for dinner. We’re not going to the club. But when we get home, I’ll see what I can do to help you shut those thoughts down.” He set a hand on Mike’s shoulder, feeling how tense he was. “Do you trust me?”

Without any hesitation, Mike nodded. “Yes.”

“Because if we move forward with this, things are going to change between us. I don’t want you to have any regrets, or to worry that you’re going down the same path as you did with Evan.”

“Understood.”

Harvey hoped he was telling the truth. He experienced a niggle of doubt, and concern that they could end up ruining up what had been developing into maybe the best relationship he’d ever had. At the same time, a warm curl of excitement ignited inside him. Feelings long dormant stirred to life.

 

******

 

Harvey decided to go over the ground rules at the restaurant, on neutral territory as it were.

“Once we get home, I’m going to ask that you speak as little as possible.”

Mike’s eyes widened, so subtly that if Harvey hadn’t been looking for a reaction, he might have missed it.

“I’m not talking about punishment if you fail,” Harvey clarified. “In fact, failure is not a word we’re going to use, ever, when we’re alone together.”

Mike appeared to digest this, his expression growing more relaxed. “So, it’s more of a guideline, than a rule?”

“Precisely. This next thing is absolutely a rule, however. Under no circumstances will you allow anything which makes you uncomfortable to continue. Your safeword is red, and I want you to use it as often as you need to. No holding out on me.”

“Yeah. Okay.”

Harvey couldn’t tell if Mike was pleased or offended by this. For once, his poker face was on full display. He wondered if he would have to push him a little, to ensure that he took this rule seriously, but then immediately dismissed that idea. Not this time. If they agreed to a repeat, there would be time for that later.

“Anything else?” asked Mike.

A smile of faux-regret from Harvey. “I hate to break it to you, but you’re not going to come tonight, or tomorrow. Sunday is a possibility, if that’s what I decide.”

Mike’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed hard. “Am I going to want to? Before Sunday, that is.”

Harvey nodded, ate the last piece of steak on his place, and signaled for the check. “You most certainly are. I’ll see to that.”

 

******

 

“This is the last choice you’ll be required to make this weekend,” said Harvey. He was seated on the couch, jacket off and tie loosened, while Mike stood in front of him, back straight, eyes directed ahead of him, as if waiting for orders from a commanding officer. Harvey wondered if he was seeing a result of Evan’s training, and on the heels of that thought, vowed to do his best not to think of her again until he had to face her in court on Monday.

“The key is for you to be comfortable. Interpret that however you like. Pajamas. Sweats. Underwear only. Nothing. This is how you’ll remain for the next two days.” He nodded toward the bedroom “Go on. I’ll wait for you here.”

A few minutes later, Mike returned, naked. Harvey nodded his approval, and tossed a pillow on the floor, near his feet. “Kneel there.”

Mike knelt.

“What’s your safeword?”

“Red.”

“Don’t hesitate to use it.”

Mike’s gaze darted to one side.

“I’m serious. Say you understand, or this ends right here.”

Mike’s jaw tensed, but after a moment he gave a slow nod.

Mike’s hesitance concerned Harvey. He’d call an end to his plans himself if anything appeared off with Mike. For now, he’d give him what he’d asked for. “Here is how tonight is going to go. I’m setting the alarm on my phone for half an hour. I would like you to suck me off, slow and easy, until the alarm sounds. Keep me hard, but don’t finish me off. Take a break whenever you need to. After time is up, I intend to bend you over the side of the couch and fuck your beautiful ass. Do you agree to all of that?”

Mike’s eyes fluttered closed for half a second. He didn’t speak, but a small sound escaped his throat, a sort of pained whimper, and his cock began to swell. He was clearly on board with Harvey’s proposal.

Leaning forward, Harvey reached out and ran a finger up and down Mike’s length. Within seconds, Mike was fully erect. His nostrils flared, as if that helped him maintain control. He was so lovely like this, with his hard, flushed cock heavy between his legs “I would love it,” murmured Harvey, tracing a zig-zagging line up Mike’s cock with his fingertip, “if you stayed like this for me. I like seeing you this way, hard and needy. Will you do that for me?”

Mike’s eyes shone with resolve, and some other emotion. “I want to,” he whispered, followed by a strangled, “sorry,” having evidently remembered he wasn’t supposed to be speaking.

Harvey caressed the back of Mike’s neck with one hand, and kissed his temple. “It’s fine. No penalties. This is just about you doing your best.” He stroked Mike’s head, and let silence settle around them. “Are you ready to begin?”

Mike’s nod this time was fervent. Harvey placed his hands at his sides, relaxed back against the couch, and watched as Mike unfastened and unzipped his pants, serious and intent, as if pouring every bit of thought and effort into accomplishing the task Harvey had set him. After freeing Harvey’s cock, he stroked it a few times to get him hard, which was a simple enough task, as he was nearly there already.

Holding Harvey’s shaft in one hand, Mike closed his mouth over the head, getting it wet and teasing the underside with his tongue. Harvey took slow careful breaths, struggling for a few moments to bring himself under control. He had no wish for this to be over before they got started. Mike sucked him gently, using light suction. He took more of Harvey into his mouth, and although Harvey knew Mike capable of deep-throating him, he didn’t go that far now, probably aware that neither of them would last if he did.

He shuffled closer, and Harvey obligingly moved his thighs farther apart, so Mike could rest his weight on them. He fleetingly wished he’d turned on some music, but soon enough, he grew accustomed to the silence, and found himself sinking into the peace and slow-building pleasure of the experience. The silence was not complete, of course. Mike slurped wetly at him, and made small, greedy-sounding grunts in the back of his throat. In comparison, Harvey remained quiet, content to observe Mike’s technique, and enjoy the exquisite feel of his mouth. Every so often, he touched the side of his face, or his neck, or stroked his hair.

A few minutes in, when Mike grew too enthusiastic, and Harvey’s balls began to tighten, he tapped Mike’s shoulder. “Slow it down,” he murmured. “Take a breather.”

Mike lifted off and gazed up at Harvey, chest heaving. His pupils were huge, and if Harvey didn’t know better, he might have thought he was high. Mike’s brows twitched downward, giving him a worried look.

“You’re doing fine, sweetheart.” Harvey ran his knuckles over Mike’s cheekbone. “So good for me.”

Mike breathed in sharply, licked his lips, and bent once more to his task. His wet, pink mouth opened, and Harvey watched himself disappear into him, halfway down. This was the sweetest torture, and he never wanted it to end. He spent the expanding minutes memorizing every bit of Mike, from his short, disordered hair, to his knobby spine, to his long, capable fingers, and the warm brush of his arm against Harvey’s thigh.

The “L” word teased at his mind, and he let it float away. He wasn’t ready to dissect his deeper feelings for Mike. This, right here, this moment of pleasurable suspense was all there was, no finish line, not immediately, just Mike’s mouth, working him softly, and the slow, slow, climb of arousal.

It seemed to Harvey that he’d been successful in helping Mike quiet his thoughts. His eyes were closed, and all the tension had disappeared from his back and shoulders. Harvey couldn’t tell for sure if he was flying yet, but he was confident they’d get there tonight. He glanced covertly at his watch, and was amazed to find that only ten minutes remained. Tempting as it was to order Mike to finish him off like this, he resisted. Another time.

Just before the alarm sounded, Harvey indulged himself by rising to his feet, tugging at Mike’s hair so that his head angled back, and fucking his face with hard, quick thrusts until he was right there, right on the edge. The jangle of the alarm startled them both, and he pulled out to turn it off. Mike panted noisily, blinking up at Harvey. He gave Mike’s face a reassuring touch.

“Stand up,” he said, and helped him to his feet. He led him to the side of the couch, and arranged him so his was facing it, a couple of paces back. “Bend over and place your hands on the arm. You’ll need to stay like that for a while, so make sure you’re well braced.”

Harvey had positioned him so that his hard cock wouldn’t make contact with the couch, avoiding friction. This would likely frustrate Mike, but should also help him to keep from coming.

Being certain to stand in Mike’s line of sight, Harvey slowly undressed, leaving his clothes in a neat pile on the coffee table. He’d already prepared by bringing lube and condoms from the bedroom, and he reached for them now, rolling on a condom, and stroking lube onto his cock. He hissed as he did so. After thirty minutes being teased by Mike’s lips and tongue, he was achingly hard, and only hoped he could hold back his orgasm long enough to give Mike the fucking he’d promised. Eyeing Mike’s heavy, blood-dark cock, which jutted up and curved against his belly, he experienced a brief stab of guilt over denying Mike his orgasm, but brushed that aside.

The eventual payoff would more than make up for Mike’s discomfort now.

Harvey stepped behind him and ran a hand down the length of his spine, feeling him shiver under his touch. Without warning, he jammed a thumb into his hole, testing his tightness. “You ready for me?” he husked, poking deeper, making Mike squirm and shift his feet before growing still once more.

Mike nodded, dropping his head between his outstretched arms. Harvey removed his thumb, and lined up the head of his cock with Mike’s hole. He pushed in, sucking in a breath at the gorgeous sight of himself disappearing inside Mike. He eased back slightly, shoved in deeper, and then repeated the process with a hard thrust that had him fully inside, and briefly brought Mike up onto his toes.

Harvey held still then, giving Mike time to adjust. He clasped Mike’s shoulder with one hand, and grabbed his hip with the other. “Do not come,” he reminded him, lips to his ear, and began a slow rocking motion. The solid feel of Mike’s back against his chest, the wonderful pressure around his cock, Mike’s shaky, uneven breathing, and his low, desperate moans – all of this combined to send Harvey too close, too quickly.

He slowed his already leisurely thrusts, then stopped completely to regroup, setting his lips against Mike’s spine and licking up his salty sweat. “Mm. You taste good.”

Another whimper escaped Mike. If Harvey hadn’t been holding onto him – and buried inside of him – he might have collapsed to the floor.

“Rest your arms on the couch,” Harvey told him. “It’ll be easier on your shoulders.”

He helped him make the adjustment, which brought Mike’s back nearly parallel with the floor, and lifted his ass slightly higher.

“You feel too damn good,” Harvey admitted. “I’m not going to last long, so hold on and brace yourself.”

He began moving again, this time standing straighter, and holding onto both of Mike’s hips as he pumped in and out. Mike’s ass was at the perfect height for this. Despite Harvey’s warning, he was determined to stretch this out as long as possible. He tightened his jaw and set up a steady pace, just this side of punishing.

Mike groaned, rocked forward by Harvey’s thrusts, visibly struggling to maintain his balance. His soft, rhythmic grunts synced up with Harvey’s movements. From where he stood, Harvey could see around Mike’s body to his cock, which looked painfully hard as it bounced with each forceful thrust. Harvey’s hand itched to reach around and stroke him to completion, but he’d said that was off the table tonight, and he wasn’t about to break his own rules.

If Mike was desperate for release, he didn’t show it. Harvey realized that at some point in the last few minutes, he must have entered subspace. Maybe he’d been there for a while, and Harvey hadn’t noticed. As he continued to chase his own pleasure, he murmured lowly to Mike, praising him, telling him how good he made him feel, and how good and perfect he was.

Mike’s mouth curved, giving him a blissed-out appearance which had Harvey ramming into him with redoubled effort. “You like that?” he whispered. “You like getting your ass fucked?”

Mike’s eyes drifted shut. “Feels so good,” he slurred, sounding sex-drunk. “Love it. Love you.”

If Harvey hadn’t been right at the edge, and ready to go over, Mike’s surprising declaration might have caused him to lose focus. As it was, his movements faltered for half a second, and one hand, slick with both his sweat and Mike’s, slid off his hip, nearly sending him falling against Mike and knocking them both to the ground.

Instead, he slapped his hand next to Mike’s on the arm of the couch, and wrapped his other arm around his hips, bending over Mike, chest to back, and managed half a dozen more strong thrusts before his orgasm ripped through him. He mouthed Mike’s shoulder, muffling his guttural cries.

They were both still breathing hard when Harvey straightened, ignoring the creaky sound his back made. He didn’t pull out immediately, taking a few moments to stare down, savoring the view of himself buried inside of Mike. He could feel Mike’s heartbeat, thrumming against his cock. Reluctant to break the connection, he regretfully dragged out, removed the condom and tied it off.

“Stay put,” he murmured. “I’ll be right back.” He hurried to the bathroom, tossed the condom in the trash, detoured to the bedroom to grab the comforter off the bed, and returned to the living to find Mike exactly where he had left him, leaning against the arm of the couch, eyes shut, cock erect and untouched. As Harvey came closer, he noted that fine tremors shook Mike’s back and shoulders, and that he had locked his knees to stay upright.

Harvey draped the comforter around his shoulders and helped him to stand, murmuring encouragements in his ear. Mike stumbled a little as Harvey led him around to the front of the couch and got him settled on his side. He crouched in front of him, placing his hand on Mike’s waist.

“How badly do you want to come?” Harvey asked.

Mike stared at him blankly, as if he didn’t understand the question, so Harvey repeated it. Mike smiled sleepily and shook his head. “I’m good,” he whispered, and Harvey could only agree.

 

******

 

Harvey sat on the couch with Mike was stretched out beside him, his cheek resting on Harvey’s leg and the comforter still cocooned around him. A movie played quietly on the television. Mike hadn’t spoken for over an hour. Harvey thought he’d fallen asleep, until he turned onto his back and looked up at Harvey.

“Can I say something?” Mike asked.

“Of course.”

“I might not have been entirely truthful.”

“You’ll have to be more specific.”

“I’m nervous about Monday.”

“Ah.” Harvey dug his fingers through Mike’s hair, massaging his scalp, and enjoying the way Mike shifted and settled himself more comfortably against his thigh. “I’ll let you in on a secret. I still get a case of nerves just before a big trial.”

Mike’s head lifted a few inches, and Harvey used his hand to urge him back down. “Shut up,” Mike muttered. “You? Nervous?”

“A ‘case of the nerves’, were my actual words.”

Mike snickered. He still sounded a little loopy and high. “Same difference.”

Harvey allowed himself a smile. It wasn’t the same thing. He didn’t bothering arguing with Mike, though. “I think it’s time for bed.”

Mike didn’t move right away. “I just want you to know that no matter how anxious I get, I won’t embarrass you in court. I promise.”

“I never thought you would.”

“Don’t forget, my first experience in a courtroom ended up with me being fired.”

_Which led us here._ Harvey didn’t say this out loud, but he leaned down to kiss Mike’s temple. “Up.”

When Mike rose, he proved to be unsteady on his feet, so Harvey held onto his elbow and guided him to the bedroom. Peeling the comforter away from him, Harvey was pleased to see that Mike’s erection had flagged only a little. He hefted it in one hand, and Mike hissed. “Would you like some help with this?” Harvey asked.

A tiny flare of hope lit in Mike’s eyes. “Help?”

“As in a cock ring.” He may have dismissed his sub all those years ago, but he still had mementoes from that time, stuffed in the back of one of his drawers.

Mike’s eyebrows lifted in surprise, but he didn’t comment on the implied admission, other than to shake his head and say, “Ev— er, she who must not be named trained me better than that.”

“Maybe I should thank her on Monday.”

Mike went still, staring at Harvey. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea. We’ve been expecting her to do something to rattle me. Why not turn the tables on her?”

“Now you’re thinking like a lawyer. However, I’m not going to use this – ” Harvey gestured between them “ – in that way. This is private, and just between the two of us.”

“She obviously doesn’t feel the same way.”

“And that’s on her. We don’t stoop to her level.”

“But – ”

“Mike, get into bed.”

Mike let it go, and climbed onto the bed. Harvey lay down next to him, extending an arm, and was inordinately pleased when Mike wordlessly rolled toward him and fitted himself to his side. His erection prodded Harvey’s hip, and he was tempted to take hold of his cock and tease him some more, but decided that this would approach too close to pure cruelty.

Mike mumbled something against his chest.”

“Hm?”

“I said, I wanna suck you off again in the morning. Please?”

As if Harvey would deny him that – or deny himself. “Granted,” he replied, humor threading his voice. He wrapped his arms around Mike. “Now, stop talking and go to sleep.”


	6. Chapter 6

Harvey woke to warm, wet suction on his cock. The covers hid Mike from him, so he folded them back. The sight of Mike straddling his legs and working his cock with lips and tongues and throat … the only thing better than the way that he looked was the way he was making Harvey feel. Still drowsy, he lay quiescent and left all the heavy lifting to Mike. The climb to orgasm, while not as drawn out as their session last night, was lengthy enough for Harvey to worry about Mike’s jaw, and how sore it must be.

Mike was a trooper though, and kept up his steady assault – steady, but never mechanical. They’d done this enough times by now that Harvey should have been able to predict Mike’s moves. It turned out, he was as much a genius at this as he was at practicing law, and it seemed that they had not yet even skimmed the surface of Mike’s inventiveness.

Finally, Harvey shot hard, and Mike slurped down every bit of it. When he’d finished, he lifted his head and licked his lips slowly, eyes shining, not with mischief, but with … devotion? The sight did strange things to Harvey’s insides, and reminded him of Mike’s admission last night. That, however, was a discussion to be tabled until they were out of bed, and the weekend was over.

“That is most definitely my favorite way to wake up,” he praised, stroking the side of Mike’s face. Mike beamed back at him.

After that, he made it his mission to spoil Mike in every way he could think of – short of allowing him to come. He fixed him an elaborate breakfast of waffles and eggs and toast and bacon, plied him with juice and coffee, and insisted he eat just to the point of discomfort.

He drew him a hot bath, complete with essential oils to soften his skin, helped him in, and knelt beside the tub, gentling scrubbing errant drops of maple syrup from his chest. Encouraging Mike to sit up and bend in half, he worked shampoo into his hair, spending long minutes massaging it in, until Mike’s unbridled moans had his dick stirring to life again. Using one of his Harvard mugs, he sluiced water over Mike’s head, rinsing away the lather while Mike held a washcloth over his eyes.

Mike had woken up as achingly hard as he’d gone to bed. By the time Harvey had him standing on the bathmat, and was drying him off with a towel, Mike’s erection had wilted. Once Harvey had him dry, he wrapped his hand around Mike's cock and stroked until it once more stood at attention. Mike didn’t complain, or plead to be allowed to come, only squeezed his eyes shut and bit his lip.

All of this called for a reward, Harvey decided, so he let Mike pick a movie, and they settled in on the couch for a long, lazy Saturday. Harvey had his laptop close by, and files from cases other than Gilhart, which had been neglected during the past weeks. Over Mike’s non-verbal grumbles, he got a decent amount of work done in between onscreen explosions and snappy movie dialog. When Mike reached for one of the files, Harvey slapped his hand away, and then kissed his palm after Mike directed a hurt look his way.

“Not this weekend,” Harvey chided him. “Your only job right now is to be my eye candy, and my good little fuck toy. If you can manage that for another day, I’m betting you’ll be more than pleased with the result.”

Mike’s eyelids drooped, and he shuddered, clearly affected by Harvey’s words. He settled against his thigh and wrapped his arms around his leg, just below the knee. He hadn’t spoken since last night, but he didn’t need to verbalize for Harvey to understand that so far, the weekend had been more successful than either of them could have hoped.

 

******

 

Halfway through the movie, Harvey paused it, and urged Mike up onto his lap. He straddled Harvey, back to chest. Condoms and lube still lay close at hand, and Harvey made quick work of preparing himself, before turning his attention to Mike. With his heavy cock resting against Mike's lower back, he stabbed two fingers into his hole, and loosened him up with a few quick, rough strokes.

"Ride me," he breathed against Mike's ear, and helped him lift up onto his knees and position his hole against Harvey's cockhead.

Mike bore down with more force than Harvey had anticipated, making him grunt. Mike’s fingers dug into Harvey's thighs as he balanced himself, panting with the effort and the stretch.

"Move when you're ready." Harvey ran a hand down Mike's back and held onto his hips.

Frowning in concentration, Mike lifted up, and sat back down on Harvey's cock. The position was an awkward one, and he had nothing to hold onto for support other than Harvey. Without a word of protest, he kept moving, up and down like a piston, thigh muscles quivering with the strain.

Harvey admired the flex of his back, the way his ass clenched and unclenched, the line of his neck when he threw his head back and shut his eyes. The feel of him surrounding Harvey’s cock, so tight and hot, was driving him wild. His hand moved forward reflexively to stroke Mike off, but he remembered himself, and placed it back on Mike’s hip. Mike was hard and leaking, but he never complained, or begged, just kept moving, exerting himself to bring Harvey off.

When he felt his balls tighten, on the verge of orgasm, Harvey began to move in counterpoint to Mike, driving his hips up, plunging impossibly deep. He hit Mike’s sweet spot, and kept hitting it, while Mike’s moans turned into sobs of frustration. Hugging Mike around the waist, Harvey lifted up and pivoted, manhandling Mike so that he lay face down on the couch, with Harvey still inside of him. Mike stretched his arms out to grasp the arm of the couch, and Harvey drove into him, yanking his hips up to achieve a better angle.

Mike let out a harsh moan and hid his face in his arms. With one sharp shout, Harvey exploded. He shuddered and ground out low curses against Mike’s back as the orgasm went on and on. Finally, wrung out, he collapsed on top of Mike, buried inside him, heart thudding inside his chest as he struggled to catch his breath.

Mike shifted minutely in apparent discomfort. Harvey pushed up, still connected, and gazed down at the elegant line of his back, damp with sweat. Unable to resist, he leaned down and licked a slow stripe up his spine, gathering the salty tang on his tongue. Then, regretfully, he maneuvered his spent cock carefully out of Mike and slid off the couch to stand over him.

“Turn over. Let me see.”

Moving stiffly, Mike rolled onto his back. No longer confined, his cock sprang free, jutting upwards, red-purple, providing Harvey evidence of his sweet obedience.

“You’re incredible.” Harvey ran a finger up Mike’s length, loving the way he shivered, eyes huge and desperate. “So good for me.” He palmed Mike’s inner thigh and squeezed once, then unpaused the movie, and went to get rid of the used condom.

 

******

 

It had been Harvey’s intention to wait until Sunday evening to give Mike his release. He’d been exceptionally good, though, and by lunchtime on Sunday, Harvey had wearied of denying him. It was barely afternoon when he ordered Mike into the bedroom.

“Lie down on your back.”

Harvey considered his options. Mike had been on edge for so long that a couple of quick strokes would likely bring him off. Hell, Harvey could probably breathe on him, or whisper _come_ , and Mike would explode. That last was an intriguing notion. Another time, he’d play with the idea of making Mike come on demand. For now, he’d leave him aching for a little while longer, and test the limits of his control.

He searched the back of his sock drawer until he found the soft rope he’d stuffed in there years ago, and then had forgotten – until now. He showed it Mike, who widened his eyes.

“Any objection to restraints?” asked Harvey.

Mike shook his head, a wary look in his eyes.

“Good to know. Give me your wrists.”

Harvey stretched Mike’s arms over his head, and secured them to the headboard, taking a moment to appreciate this view of him, laid out like a feast for the taking. Pouring lube onto one palm, he stroked Mike’s cock, watching him whimper and squirm. He didn’t let up, enjoying the sight far too much. Mike’s eyes pleaded with him, and his teeth worried his lower lip so hard that Harvey became concerned that he would draw blood.

“I still have that cock ring, if you need it.”

Mike shook his head roughly.

“Suit yourself.”

He didn’t restrain Mike’s legs, merely repositioned them so that they lay straight on the bed, slightly apart. He ran a hand up one leg, dragging his fingertips along the inside to the crease between leg and thigh. Targeting this spot for long minutes with butterfly touches, he ratcheted up Mike’s beautiful struggles. He’d never considered himself to be a sadist – quite the opposite – but this was so satisfying, and so moving, the tension and sweet torment showing clearly on Mike’s face, and in the way he writhed beneath Harvey’s touch, every muscle tensed with effort and stress.

Harvey moved his hand to Mike’s cock. Keeping his touch light, he started from the base and stroked upwards, then thumbed the slit, which was wet with pre-come. At the same time, he pinched Mike’s nipple, flicked it with his thumbnail, and flicked it again.

“God,” Mike bit out, breaking his day-long silence. “Shit. I can’t – ” He yanked on his restraints. Using one foot for leverage, he pushed up the bed, away from Harvey’s touch, until he sat against the headboard, bound wrists at his ears, breathing hard.

“Did I say you could move?” asked Harvey, voice mild.

Mike stared at him, huge pupils centered within a thin ring of blue. “I’m trying,” he whispered. “You’re setting me up to fail.”

“I see your efforts. Your suffering is gorgeous. If you came all over yourself right now, that’s no failure.” He studied Mike’s face. “I can see you don’t believe me.”

Mike shook his head, lips pressed tightly together. He looked on the verge of tears. “I just want to be good for you. Nothing else.” A painful swallow. “Do you want me to come?”

Harvey continued stroking him, watching a succession of emotions cross his expressive face: need, agony, desperation, determination. “I thought I’d made myself clear,” murmured Harvey. “I get off on your struggle. It pleases me, how hard you’re trying. It’s maybe the most beautiful thing I’ve ever witnessed.”

“You d-didn’t answer my q-question.”

“Ssh.” Harvey crawled up the bed and pressed his mouth to Mike’s, leisurely tonguing into him, and then whispering against his lips, “We’re almost there. If you need to take a pause, you know what to do.”

He started stroking Mike again, and felt him relax beneath him, although his erection never flagged. He didn’t speak the word Harvey was half-expecting, that one short syllable which would have brought immediate respite. Instead, he sank back against the pillows, blinking slowly. His face tightened in what might have been pain, or overwhelming pleasure, or a mixture of the two. His breathing slowed, becoming deeper and more measured, and now his face took on a dreamy look.

He’d thought Mike had been beautiful before, but this …

“Open your eyes. Keep them on me.”

He waited until Mike’s eyes were fixed on him before moving down the bed and settling between his legs. He licked his cock, striping it with his tongue from base tip, moving methodically, until every inch was wet with his saliva. He pulled the head between his lips, sucking gently, and slipped one finger behind Mike’s balls and pressed it into his hole. Mike tugged on his bonds, back arching, but his hips remained on the bed as if they’d been glued in place.

Harvey moved his mouth lower, sucking and licking, and jamming two fingers inside Mike, fucking in and out, loving the clench of Mike’s asshole around him. Cutting his gaze to Mike’s face, he saw that he had his eyes shut again, and wore an expression of pure, ecstatic torment as he panted shallowly.

Harvey dragged his lips up Mike’s cock and tongued the sensitive spot underneath the head, then lifted off. “Are you close?”

Mike opened his eyes and gave a jerky nod. His huge eyes pleaded with Harvey to finish it. Harvey smiled, that untapped vein of sadism rising inside him once more. He stroked his palms up Mike’s straining thighs, past his hips to his belly, which tensed under his touch. Catching one of Mike’s nipples in his mouth, he suckled gently, flicking it with his tongue. A groan vibrated deep in Mike’s chest, and forced itself out of his throat. Harvey could feel his trembles everywhere, under his mouth, inside him where his fingers still lodged.

Harvey raised his head, pulled his fingers free, and debated how to proceed. He loved to watch Mike’s face when he came. On the other hand, he was so beautiful on his knees. _Decisions, decisions_.

First things first. Straddling Mike’s legs, he leaned over him and untied his bonds. “Turn over,” he urged, tapping Mike’s hips “Up on your hands and knees. Don’t touch yourself. Not yet.”

Mike knelt in front of him, head lowered and hanging between his arms, back heaving with his labored breaths.

“We’re almost there,” Harvey murmured. “Just hold on a little longer. Can you do that for me?”

Another nod from Mike. He swallowed so hard that Harvey heard it. “I’m going to get you ready for me. Once I’m inside you, you have my permission to come as soon as you like. If you can last until I finish, however, I’ll allow you to direct our next scene together. Would you like that?”

Mike didn’t respond right away, which Harvey misinterpreted as meaning that he didn’t care for the idea. Then he let out a slow breath and nodded slowly. “God, yes,” he whispered, harsh and fervent.

Harvey drizzled lube over his fingertips, and jammed two of them into Mike, working them around while Mike spread his knees wider, offering his ass to Harvey. _Oh, yes please,_ he thought, wondering how they’d gotten so lucky to find one another like they had. It didn’t seem likely that Brooklyn Law would meet Harvard, but Fate could be a determined bitch sometimes.

He pressed deeper, and Mike pushed back against him, almost as if he wished to engulf Harvey’s entire hand. Harvey’s thoughts shot ahead to some unspecified point in the future, picturing himself with his fist inside him, buried up to the elbow, and even though it was Mike riding the thin edge of desire, Harvey suddenly felt in danger of losing his own struggle with control.

With a few more deep strokes inside Mike, he removed his fingers, wiped them on the sheets, and reached for a condom and prepared himself. He’d used Mike enough this weekend that he was able to slide inside in one continuous push. Mike clutched handfuls of the comforter and a small sound escaped his throat, which Harvey suspected was relief that he could come now, whenever he wanted.

Still, he held off, perhaps in hopes of earning the reward Harvey had dangled in front of him. Harvey took it as his challenge to bring Mike off sooner than him. He reached for his cock, gave it a squeeze, and stroked rapidly. Mike’s ass clenched around him like a vise. At the same time, he glanced over his shoulder at Harvey, eyes shining with an answering challenge.

Harvey returned his look with a savage grin. _Game on._

Bracing a hand on the headboard, Harvey pumped Mike’s cock with his other hand while he rocked into him, settling into a hard, steady rhythm. Mike dropped into his elbows, widening his knees and hugging a pillow to his chest. The bed creaked and shook as each raced to finish the other off first. Harvey had the advantage, with his dick in Mike’s ass, and his hand on his cock, but Mike had a proven track record of iron control.

“Come,” Harvey growled in his ear, using his deepest, most authoritative voice. Mike trembled beneath him. Harvey could feel Mike’s balls drawing up, heard his low sob, and suddenly this wasn’t about winning. “It’s all right, baby. Come for me. Now.”

Mike lifted his face, gasped, and gasped again, as if he was in pain. He shouted wordlessly, and his entire body convulsed while he came and came over Harvey’s fist. The sight, and sound, and feel of Mike coming apart sent Harvey flying over the edge moments later. They shook and shuddered together, feeding off each other’s energy in what felt like an endless loop of pleasure.

When Harvey’s brain rebooted, he was lying on his side, clutching Mike to him, buried inside Mike’s still twitching ass, with his hand cradling his soft cock. He tongued the back of Mike’s neck, kissed him in the same spot, and struggled to catch his breath. Mike had gone limp in his arms. Harvey might have thought he’d dozed off – or passed out – if he didn’t shift every so often, pushing his bottom back, as if trying to get closer to Harvey.

“Love you,” Mike slurred.

Harvey didn’t repeat Mike’s words back to him, but he couldn’t have missed the way Harvey’s arms tightened around him, which was almost as good as a declaration.

_Love you too._

 

******

 

Sitting next to Harvey in court the following morning, Mike appeared as focused and clear-eyed as Harvey had ever seen, even more than the first day they’d met. By contrast, Rick, who sat on the other side of Mike, jiggled a knee nervously and fiddled with a pen, spinning it in circles on the tabletop, and repeatedly knocking it onto the floor, until Harvey leaned past Mike and gave him a severe look.

Across the aisle, Evan and Gary sat with their heads together, conferring quietly. Or rather, Evan murmured nonstop into his ear while he nodded and nodded, all but wringing his hands. After one swift, narrow-eyed glanced at Mike when she’d first entered the courtroom, she’d been pointedly ignoring him, and the rest of the PSL team.

The bailiff announced the judge, everyone stood, and then sat once Judge Bardot was settled at the bench. Formalities were dispensed with, and jury selection was under way. This lasted for most of the morning. Both Harvey and Evan had few challenges, and by the time the trial recessed for lunch twelve jurors and three alternates had been selected.

After lunch, which Harvey, Mike and Rick spent at the hot dog stand across from the courthouse, the trial began in earnest. As attorney for the plaintiffs, Harvey was up first with his opening statement. He laid out the bare facts, hinted at some of the witnesses he intended to call, and retook his seat. The entire statement had lasted less than five minutes.

When it was Evan’s turn to speak, she was every bit as brief as Harvey had been, ending with, “We intend to prove that this case is about nothing more than every day, run-of-the-mill greed, and was filed by Mr. Specter in a misguided attempt to shield his long-time client, Nathaniel Marsh of Marsh Motors, from his own clear liability in the case. Mr. Marsh put those cars on the road, and the blame for those tragic accidents should be laid exclusively at his door.”

Harvey met Mike’s eyes, and understanding passed between them. Evan was conveniently leaving out the fact that the same judge who sat at the bench today had been the one to dismiss the charges against Marsh. Harvey could only wonder at her strategy. Whatever it was, he would see to it that it didn’t work.

Evan took her seat, and it was time for Harvey to call his first witness. He began with Donald Waits, who explained the sequence of events clearly and concisely. As she’d done at the deposition, Evan did her best to discredit him. Unfortunately for her, Waits proved to be one of the most solid, unflappable witnesses that Harvey had had the pleasure of working with in years.

The rest of the day was given over to the testimony of half a dozen of the victims and their family members. No surprises came to light as they answered the questions Harvey had gone over with them. Evan’s cross seemed merely perfunctory. She must have known she had little to gain by attempting to discredit these sympathetic witnesses.

By the time the judge called a recess for the night, Harvey’s confidence was soaring. His experts were scheduled for the following day. Mike and Rick had been working on the exhibits, consisting of photos of the accident scenes, and diagrams of the transmission schematics which their automotive expert would use to explain the exact nature of the flaws in the faulty parts.

They made it through the day without having to endure any of Evan’s head games, and Harvey allowed himself a cautious optimism that their concerns had been unfounded. When they left the building, recalling the time Evan had cornered Mike in the bathroom, Mike choose to wait outside while Harvey detoured to the men’s room to relieve himself. He’d already sent Rick home for the day.

Harvey was looking forward to dinner at Del Moro’s with Mike. Neither of them had mentioned Mike’s fervent declarations during the weekend. Although Harvey still didn’t know what he would say about it, he figured Del Moro’s was the perfect place to have what promised to be a tricky discussion. His favorite Italian restaurant was both comfortable and subtly romantic, the acoustics favored intimate conversation, and low lights combined with flickering candlelight would help to conceal expressions which might become more vulnerable than either of them might wish.

He strolled partway down the courthouse steps, scanning the area for Mike, but didn’t see him. Where had he gotten to? He didn’t see Evan either, or Gary, all of which had him feeling faintly alarmed. Pulling out his phone, he dialed Mike. It rang four times before Mike answered, sounding out of breath.

“Can’t talk right now.”

“Mike, what the hell?”

“I’ll see you at home.”

“But I wanted us to – ”

Mike disconnected before Harvey could complete the sentence. Scowling down at his phone, he tried to understand what had just happened. What could possibly possess Mike … He suddenly recalled Mike’s admission that Evan had been texting him. With the weekend they’d had, Harvey had completely forgotten his intention to get him a new phone. With a low growl, he pulled up Evan’s number and hit “call.”

“Harvey,” she purred. “After all day in court, you still can’t get enough of me? Is this cause for hope?”

“Is Mike with you?”

Brief silence. “Why, did you lose him?”

“Is he with you?”

She sighed dramatically. “Look down the steps. See that silver Lexus idling at the curb? That’s me.”

He located the car, and as he watched, the passenger window glided downward. She waggled her fingers at him, an ironic expression on her face.

“You’re more than welcome to search the car, and anything else you want. He might be hiding up my skirt. You should pay special attention to that.”

He stomped down the rest of the steps. Despite Evan’s obvious sarcasm, when he reached the Lexus, he stuck his head partway through the window to verify her claim. Only she and her driver sat inside.

“Would you like me to ask Maureen to pop the trunk?” Evan nodded to indicate her driver.

“Did you see him walk past with anyone?” By this point, Harvey was worried enough that he didn’t care if she saw the agitation on his face, or heard it in his voice.

Unexpectedly, she dropped the mocking tone. “No. I’ve been sitting here waiting for Gary.” She frowned thoughtfully. “Looks like we’re both missing an associate.”

They locked gazes for a few seconds, and then Harvey hurriedly tapped out a text to Mike: _“Is Gary with you?”_

It was a full minute before he received a reply. He watched Evan while he waited. She was doing her best to appear unconcerned but wasn’t succeeding. Finally, his phone signaled an incoming text.

_“He needed to talk. I promise it’s nothing about the case.”_

“Well?” asked Evan, as Harvey pondered Mike’s reply.

“Evidently they’re together.”

She sighed. “Get in.”

Harvey hesitated, wanting to refuse. Evan removed her phone from her purse and tapped the screen a few times, and then turned the screen to him so that he could see the GPS tracking app she’d opened.

“You chipped him?”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake. No. It’s his phone. And before you go all indignant on me, he agreed to it.”

Harvey rolled his eyes, mostly for form’s sake, but he was also wondering if he should use the same app for Mike.

“It takes a few seconds,” she said, and then, “Ah. There he is.” Her eyebrows pulled down. “They’re still moving.” Another glance at Harvey. “Well?”

He stalked to the other side of the car and slid in next to her, resisting the urge to slam the door.  Evan instructed her driver to head east down the busy street.

Harvey spotted them first. They’d stopped in front of a shoe store window. Gary had his head down, biting his lip, and nodding every so often to whatever Mike was saying to him. For his part, Mike appeared worked up, gesticulating wildly, pointing back at the courthouse, and poking Gary with his index finger.

Gary lifted his face, and now Harvey could see tears drying on his flushed cheeks. Evan made a sound beside him. A glance in her direction revealed her with her phone to her ear, mouth curved into an ugly frown. Back on the sidewalk, Gary froze, eyes wide and pleading. Mike shook his head, speaking more words that Harvey couldn’t hear. Gary raised his phone, stared at the screen for a second, and lifted it to his ear.

Evan didn’t mince words. “I’m at the curb. Get your ass over here now, or you won’t be able to sit for a week.” She ended the call and gave Harvey a forced smile. “Almost more trouble than they’re worth, aren’t they?”

“No,” he replied. “Not Mike. He’s no trouble at all, and even if he was, I wouldn’t mind.” He opened the door. “Better figure out a way to learn from your mistakes, or I predict you’re about to lose another sub – and associate.”

He shut the door and stepped around the car, motioning to Mike with a subtle nod of his head. He was standing close enough to Mike and Gary now that he heard Mike’s next words.

“You have to tell her. If she won’t listen, leave. Believe me, you don’t need to be this miserable. It’s not worth it.”

Gary spotted Harvey, and appeared even unhappier than he had a second ago. “Easy for you to say. You have him.” His phone trilled again. “Shit.” He took a step toward the curb, and stopped. “Can I call you?”

Mike slipped him a business card. He stood next to Harvey, and they watched Gary walk to the Lexus, picking up speed as nerves overtook him. Neither spoke until Gary was inside, and the car pulled into traffic.

“Sorry about that,” said Mike. “Gary was having some kind of existential crisis outside the courthouse. There wasn’t time to call you.” He eyed Harvey. “You weren’t worried, were you?”

“Me?” He made a scoffing sound. “Not for a second.”

If Mike doubted his words, he didn’t say so.

 

******

 

Harvey decided to cancel Del Moro’s. They could dine there another time. He told himself it was because he wanted to get Mike home, and make sure he was all right. The truth was, Harvey was more upset than he’d admitted to Mike. Those few moments of uncertainty, when he’d feared that Mike had gone back to Evan, had been some of the worst in his life.

At home, they ordered dinner, changed into more comfortable clothes, and settled together on the couch.

“Should I even ask what had Gary so upset today?” asked Harvey, holding his drink in both hands.

Mike let out a cynical sounding laugh. “All that stuff I told you about Evan? Multiply that by about a thousand, and you get the idea.”

“You left. He’ll figure it out.”

“He feels even more trapped than I did. Knowing Evan, I’m betting that was by design.”

Harvey was sick of talking and thinking about the woman, Still, he had to ask. “Trapped how?”

“You think Brooklyn Law is a less than stellar alma mater? Gary went to City University, graduated in the bottom third of his class, and barely squeaked through the bar exam on his fourth try.”

“Ouch.”

“The only way he’d land another job at a half-decent firm is if he offered to blow every senior partner, and even then, it would be touch-and-go.”

“You’re saying his blow-job skills are not up to your standards?”

“I have no empirical evidence to support that, but I’d guess those skills are as City University as his lawyering skills.” He looked thoughtful for a moment. “I suppose that means mine are Brooklyn Law level.”

Harvey took Mike’s glass and set both drinks on the coffee table. “No way. You’re Harvard, all the way.”

Mike smirked at him. “I always suspected that was on the curriculum. Is that how you brought up your GPA and managed such a respectable class ranking?”

Harvey smirked back. “You tell me.” His hands went to Mike’s waistband, and he proceeded to demonstrate why he would have earned an A plus.

 

******

 

The rest of the week brought no surprises at trial. The experts laid out the facts, Evan did her best to discredit them, but failed.

Something seemed to have changed between Evan and Gary. The day after Gary’s meltdown with Mike, he entered the courtroom at Evan’s side, rather than two paces behind. For once, she was carrying her own purse. When Evan had her back turned for a few seconds, Gary gave Mike a meaningful look, widening his eyes, and quirking his mouth up at one corner. By the time Evan turned around, he’d wiped his face clean of everything but serious professionalism. Evan gave Mike a suspicious glance, but said nothing.

Harvey wrapped up his case Wednesday afternoon.

“The plaintiffs rest,” he said.

Since it was so late in the day, Judge Bardot announced that they would pick up in the morning with the first witness for Gilhart.

Harvey had deposed the witnesses on Evan’s list, so he had a good idea of her likely strategy. She had her own set of experts, a few current Gilhart employees, and one or two family members of the victims who were willing to testify to impairment of those specific drivers. He felt confident that these would not be enough to sway the jury.

Still, he knew Evan was more than capable of spinning out a compelling argument. He wasn’t ready to take a victory lap just yet. Everything might hinge on their closing argument, which needed to be a strong one.

That night at home, with takeout cartons spread across the kitchen counter, he gave Mike a long, level look. He’d all but promised him the closing, but could he afford to take a chance on an untried first year associate?

Mike caught him looking. “What?”

Harvey sighed. “Look, don’t take this the wrong way. I’m only posing a question, but I want you to really think about it before you answer.” _Or fly off the handle._

“Okay. I’m worried now. What is it?”

“We have a strong case, but Evan is a tough competitor – one of the toughest I’ve faced. I give us the edge, but realistically speaking, the verdict could go either way.”

“Um, right. Like every other trial in the history of trials.”

“There’s a lot at stake.”

Mike’s brow wrinkled. “You’re not telling me – _Oh._ I get it. You want me to hand the closing back to you.”

“It’s one option we should consider.”

Leaning his chopsticks carefully against the side of his plate, Mike stood and paced into the living room. With his back to Harvey, he murmured, “You still don’t trust me.”

“I absolutely do trust you. I just have more experience at this sort of thing.”

Mike whirled back around. “You have more experience being a lawyer, but you can’t know, not on a deep, visceral level, what those people have gone through. Unlike you, I don’t have any doubts that we’ll win this trial. I’ve been keeping a close eye on the jury. They’re not all that crazy about you, but they detest Evan. I’m willing to bet just about anything you’d like to name, that the verdict will go our way. But the settlement amount? That is anybody’s guess. The jury will look at you and think, ‘he doesn’t need the money.’ And they’ll look at the plaintiffs, knowing their medical bills have been taken care of already, and wonder what more they could possibly want, or need.”

“Our experts made it crystal clear – ”

“Our experts recited facts and figures, statistics and probabilities. They aimed their little pointers at the charts and graphs and put half the jurors to sleep. If you rehash all of that in the closing arguments, their earnest little juror eyes will glaze over.”

“And you propose … what? You want to make this personal?”

“You’re damned right, I do. I know what it means to be a victim. I can tell them my story, show how my parents’ deaths all those years ago affected me, and continue to affect me. I’ll have them so twisted up with emotion they’ll give those plaintiffs everything they want, and more.”

Harvey walked over to him and placed his hands on Mike’s tense shoulders. “All right. Contingent upon my approval of your final draft, I’ll give you this chance. But sweetheart, you can’t make every case personal in this way. You have to keep a certain distance, or you’ll burn yourself out. Do you understand?”

Mike gazed at the floor and nodded. “Yes. It’s just … this case.”

“I get it. It’s important to you because of what happened to your parents.”

“Not just that. I won’t feel completely free of Evan and her toxic influence until I can sit in the courtroom and watch her face when she realizes that her ex-sub and ex-associate helped to take away one of the biggest potential victories of her career. I never told you this but before, when she started the original class action, she was all but assured of a senior partnership if she could score a major win.”

Harvey nodded thoughtfully. “So, this isn’t just about sticking it to you.”

Mike’s lips twisted. “Oh, it’s about that too, but she has a lot at stake. Her career is on the line.”

“You …” Harvey frowned, not sure how he felt about this side of Mike. “You have an unexpectedly vindictive streak in you.” At the hurt look on Mike’s face, he hurriedly added, “Not that I blame you. She deserves everything that’s coming to her.” He gave Mike a gentle shake. “Let’s finish our dinner. After that, I’ll take you to bed and get your mind on something besides the trial.”


	7. Chapter 7

Evan’s witnesses took up the final two days of the week, and then she rested. Closing arguments would take place on Monday, after which jury deliberations would begin.

Harvey wanted nothing more than to get Mike home alone, but it had occurred to him over the course of the week that ever since he’d brought Mike on, he’d been neglecting Rick, so he decided to invite him to dinner with them. He picked a diner not far from the courthouse. Harvey ordered a scotch, while Mike and Rick stuck with beer.

Mike toasted the team and they all drank. As they waited for their food to arrive, Rick’s gaze darted back and forth between Mike and Harvey. He clearly wanted to say something, but was having trouble working up the nerve.

Finally, Harvey asked, “What’s on your mind, Rick?”

Rick stared down at the tabletop, drew a series of curlicues with his fingertip, then let out a dissatisfied sounding sigh. “Are you planning to replace me with Mike?” He’d gone pale as parchment, except for his dark freckles and red spots over each cheek.

If Harvey had been alone with Rick, he might have signaled his annoyance by standing up and walking out on him, or bluntly confirming his fears. Maybe his time with Mike had changed him, because instead of doing either, he breathed out slowly, and said, “No. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“B-but you fired your first associate, Ryan.”

“Brian.”

“And then you hired Mike. You two are, like, joined at the hip.”

“We’re not – ”

“You stay at work late at night. I’d stay too, if you needed me, but you never seem to. And I’ve seen you arrive together in the morning more than once. No offense, but, are you dating or something? Which is fine. That’s totally your business, and none of mine. I’m just – I can’t compete with that, and I have these worries that if it came down to it, if you had to choose between us, he has the clear advantage.” He drained his beer, Adam’s apple jerking convulsively. He fixed Harvey with a pleading look. “I have student loans to pay off, you know?”

Harvey glanced at Mike, who picked at the label on his beer bottle, appearing uncomfortable at Rick’s words. He wouldn’t confirm Rick’s assumptions about their relationship, but Harvey could understand his concerns.

“I’m only going to say this once,” Harvey began, “and then we’re not going to speak of it again. Your future at the firm is entirely in your own hands. Before you brought it up tonight, I hadn’t given it a second thought. Now, I’m starting to wonder if you get it.”

“Get it?” Rick’s eyes had gone wide and fearful. “Get what?”

Harvey grew annoyed. “If you have to ask …”

Mike laid a hand on Harvey’s arm, and he saw Rick’s gaze flicker to the contact, and away again.

“I think what Harvey is trying to say, is that it’s about confidence, and believing in your own abilities. Don’t try to be a good attorney, just be one.”

“Thank you, Yoda,” Harvey said drily.

Mike’s eyes flashed with irritation, and he spoke to Rick again. “Seriously, man, I wouldn’t worry about your job. Harvey’s not replacing you with me. As far as I know, as soon as this trial is over, I’ll be looking for another job.”

Feeling as if the air in the restaurant had just thickened, making both movement and breathing difficult, Harvey turned to Mike. “What did you just say?”

“You hired me for the duration of the trial. It’s almost over, and I haven’t received an offer yet, so …”

“What the hell are you talking about? Of course I offered you a permanent position.” Hadn’t he? He cast back in his mind, trying to recall. There was that time during depositions when he’d thrown that out there, in an effort to rattle Evan. Mike had known it for the lie it was, and Harvey had never corrected that oversight. He’d never actually offered Mike the job.

_Shit._

“It was understood,” he said, ignoring the skeptical look Mike gave him.

“Things are better understood when you say them out loud.”

Harvey looked at Rick and threw one hand out, gesturing at Mike. “You see? This right here is a prime example of not getting it.”

Mike reddened at the implied rebuke. “Oh, I get it just fine. The marginally adequate Harvard lawyer gets a guaranteed future, and Brooklyn Law gets to stick around only as long as he’s useful.”

At Mike’s words, a wash of red flooded Rick’s pale face, giving him a blotchy appearance. Harvey couldn’t help but compare that to how attractive Mike’s red cheeks made him. Attractive or not, Mike was being both unfair and unkind to Rick.

“Mike, you owe Rick an apology. He’s more than adequate. Unlike you, simply being accepted to Harvard put him in an elite class.” He expected that hard truth would anger Mike, but he didn’t expect him to push back his chair and stand, poking a shaking finger at Harvey’s face.

“I thought – No. You know what? Never mind what I thought. Obviously, I stupidly allowed myself to believe – ” Mike glanced at Rick, and seemed to change his mind about what he’d been about to say. “To believe certain things which are clearly not true.”

Harvey realized this was about more than the job offer. Mike was talking about that “I love you” which had gone unanswered for too long. If they’d been alone, he might have taken the opportunity to clarify to Mike how he felt. Instead, he said coolly, “Sit down.”

Mike froze, and Harvey thought for a moment that he would respond to the commanding tone out of instinct or habit. He didn’t sit. Giving Harvey a long look, he shook his head. “My appetite seems to have disappeared. Enjoy your dinner. Both of you.” With that, he pivoted on his heel and stomped out of the restaurant.

Alone together Harvey and Rick eyed one another across the table. Rick cleared his throat. “Well, that was … “

“That was what, Rick?”

Rick’s face went red and blotchy again. “I didn’t mean – that is – ” He straightened in his chair, seeming to gather his courage.  “You should probably go after him,” he said.

Harvey’s gaze sharpened on him. “You think so?”

“I may be merely marginally adequate, but even I can see what’s right in front of me. Can’t you?”

With a considering head-tilt, Harvey pulled money out of his wallet and placed it on the table. “Maybe I was wrong about you. Maybe you do get it.”

Rick gave him a weak smile. “Thanks?”

“Stay for dinner,” said Harvey. “Have a good weekend. Sorry I can’t stick around.” He took two steps toward the door, and then turned back and pointed at Rick. “You are definitely not fired.”

He went after Mike.

 

******

 

It shouldn’t have surprised Harvey that Mike had not gone back to the condo, but it did. Somehow, he’d almost managed to forget that Mike still had an apartment in Brooklyn. He’d sent Ray home already, so he called for a cab to take him there.

A sense of déjà vu overwhelmed him as he knocked on Mike’s door and heard furtive footsteps on the other side.

“Mike?” he called. “Open the door.”

No reply. It had gone silent inside the apartment. Harvey could picture Mike next to the door, holding his breath, waiting for Harvey to give up and go away.

That wasn’t going to happen.

He leaned close to the door, mouth almost touching the scarred wood, and pitched his voice so that Mike would hear him. “Open the door, or your neighbors are going to learn more about your life than you ever wanted them to.”

As soon as he’d spoken, he regretted his choice of words. He knew how aggressive and manipulative it had sounded, and wished he could take it back. “Look, Mike – ” That’s as far as he got before the door swung open.

Mike still wore his suit and tie. He didn’t appear angry anymore, just tired and unhappy. “What do you want?” he asked.

“Can I come in?”

Mike turned and walked away, leaving the door open. Harvey stepped inside and closed the door. “Rick is definitely onto us.”

A soft snort from Mike. “Not as dumb as he looks.” As he turned halfway back around, Harvey saw that he was scowling. “Sorry. That sounded bitchy. That _was_ bitchy. Rick’s a good guy.”

“I know.”

An awkward silence.

Mike turned away, yanking at his tie to loosen it. “Are you going to tell me why you’re here? Or do I get to assume about that, just like everything else?”

Wincing, Harvey moved further into the room and took a seat. He stared down at his hands, wondering where to begin, and chose the least daunting item on the agenda first. “To start with, I’d like to formally offer you a permanent position at Pearson Specter Litt.”

He waited, but Mike didn’t respond.

“Well?”

“You said, ‘to start with.’ Before I give you an answer, I want to hear the rest of it.”

Harvey growled softly. “Fine. Secondly, what I said back at the restaurant, about Rick being in an elite class? All I meant was that he started out with an advantage. That doesn’t mean he’ll be a better lawyer than you. From what I’ve seen so far, he’ll develop into a very good lawyer. You on the other hand, are already exceptional. There’s no limit to the things you might achieve, given the right guidance.”

“Guidance by you?”

“Sure. And Jessica, and even Louis.”

A huff of laughter from Mike. “Louis? God help us.”

Harvey permitted himself a small smile. “Well. He grows on you.”

“Right.”

“Stick around, and you’ll see.”

“Hm. So you had a first, and a second. Is there a third?” Mike couldn’t meet his gaze any longer.

Sucking in a nervous breath, Harvey stood and walked over to stand in front of Mike. He placed his hands on his shoulders, not liking the way Mike’s mouth tucked in at the corners, signaling his discontent. That expression, that wary sadness, is what finally gave Harvey the courage to say what he knew Mike wanted to hear – and what Harvey had been feeling for weeks now.

“Third, and most importantly, I love you. I’m in love with you. I want you in my life, even if you turn down the job offer, I might doubt your good sense, but I’ll still love you.” He paused. “Is that explicit enough for you?”

Mike’s eyes lit with a hopeful spark. He didn’t quite smile, but his mouth relaxed.  “That was … not bad.”

Harvey waited. “And?”

“And I’ll take things in order. One: I accept your job offer. Two: If you force me to work with Louis against my will, number one is rescinded. And three …” He leaned forward and kissed Harvey until they were both breathless, and then pulled back a fraction and whispered, “Good.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Monday Morning**

Harvey set a hand on Mike’s forearm in an attempt to stop his fidgeting. Closing arguments were about to begin, and Mike was up first. Mike gave him a grateful half-smile, and breathed in noisily, in an apparent attempt to ease his tension.

“You’ve got this,” murmured Harvey.

“What I’ve got is flop sweat.”

“Calm down. Do it just like you did last night.”

“Oh, God, I wish you hadn’t said that. Now I’m nervous _and_ about to pop a boner.”

Quashing the sudden urge to laugh, Harvey shook his head. “You never know. That might sway some of the jurors who are still on the fence.”

This coaxed a low, amused chuff out of Mike, and he became noticeably more relaxed.

Just then, Rick returned from the restroom, sat down next to Mike, and gave his arm an encouraging pat. “Good luck, Mike.”

The trial resumed, and then it was time. Mike froze in his chair for one beat, and then two.

Harvey whispered in his ear, quietly enough so that only Mike would hear. “Pretend I’m the only one here, and you’re speaking to me.”

“Mr. Ross?” said the judge, sounding impatient.

Mike lurched to his feet and stepped up to face the jurors.

“This case – ” he began in a hoarse, scratchy voice. He paused, clearing his throat, and tried again. “This case is not about greed. It’s not about revenge, or retribution. This will sound trite to many of you here, but it’s about something as simple as justice.”

Harvey had heard the speech four times over the past two days, in slightly different iterations, but he could practically recite it by heart – not in the same way Mike could, of course, but almost. He didn’t listen closely to the familiar words, instead focusing his attention on Mike. He was so earnest, and articulate and handsome as he summarized the case, and shredded in advance all of the arguments Evan was likely to make. He tuned back in as Mike began to sum it all up.

“I’m going to ask you now,” Mike said, “to put yourself in the place of the victims. More specifically, imagine that your husband, or daughter, or father was grievously injured --  or killed -- in a crash which could have been prevented, and should never have happened. Well, guess what? I don’t have to imagine, because it happened to me. That’s right, my parents died in a car crash, hit by a drunk driver, because some bartender wasn’t doing his job properly. I can tell you, without exaggeration, that loss … that is a pain you never get over. That is a lifetime of pain. An empty place inside which never goes away."

Several of the jurors frowned thoughtfully upon hearing this. One surreptitiously wiped at her eyes. The gazes of every single one of them were locked on Mike, drinking in every word he said.

“The infuriating thing is, it’s a pain that could have been avoided, just as the pain of the plaintiffs could have been avoided. The other side would have you believe that the blame should fall on one particular employee at Gilhart. I’m sure Gilhart would like that as well. Unfortunately for them, we can’t separate the actions of one person from the corporation as a whole. That is a simple fact of law. Gilhart defrauded Marsh Motors, and as a result, put hundreds of lives in danger. That so few people were hurt or killed is due to the swiftness with which Marsh acted to recall the cars and correct the problem. And while we may feel justifiably relieved that the fallout from Gilhart’ s fraud was contained, that doesn’t change the fact that damage was done, for which there must be consequences.

“Find Gilhart guilty. Make them pay. The victims deserve that much from us at least. Make Gilhart feel some of their pain, if only in their bank account. Make it hurt, so that they learn, and this never happens again.”

Mike walked back to the table and sat down. Only Harvey and Rick were close enough to him to hear his shaky sigh of relief. Harvey gave him a short nod of approval. He'd done well, and hadn't popped a boner. Harvey, on the other hand …

He pushed his chair closer to the table and watched Evan take Mike's place. Her closing was smooth and polished, but ice cold, almost entirely lacking emotion. Harvey studied the expressions on the jurors' faces. They were attentive enough, but most appeared distant, or cautious. When she began reciting actuarial studies, reeling off dry facts and figures, at least half of them had a glazed look in their eyes.

Although Harvey was aware that juries could be notoriously unpredictable, and he'd never bet big money on getting the verdict he wanted, he knew in that moment that this jury was going to find in their favor. He turned his head and met Mike's gaze. Neither of them cracked a smile, but something unspoken passed between them, an acknowledgement that they'd done it. They'd beaten Evan Smith.

 

******

 

As it turned out, they didn't simply beat Evan, they crushed her.

When the jury came back that afternoon, having deliberated for merely one hour, they ruled for the plaintiffs, just as Harvey had expected they would. When they requested a higher settlement amount than Harvey had asked for, he couldn't resist a glance in Evan's direction. She looked shocked, and noticeably pale.

In the gallery, a gasp sounded from the plaintiffs, followed by a raucous cheer. Hugs were shared, shoulders clapped, faces stretched in wide smiles.

In the hallway several minutes later, Mike, Harvey and Rick were mobbed by people who wanted to shake their hands and thank them in person for winning their case. Mike had so many people surrounding him, trapping him against the wall, that Harvey finally had to intercede.

"We have to get back to the office," he told the clients, speaking over the buzz of their voices. "You'll all be receiving information in the next few days about your settlement disbursements. For now, go. Celebrate."

It was a few more minutes before he could wade through them and make it outside. Camera crews from two television news programs were waiting for them there, and he consented to a quick sound bite for each of them. He lost track of Mike and Rick for a few minutes, but he saw Evan walk down the steps and get in her car. As it sat in place, unmoving, it occurred to Harvey that he hadn't seen Gary get in with her.

He glanced at his watch, itching to get away from here to give Jessica and Louis the good news in person, and to have a celebratory drink or two. A security guard sprinted towards him, up the stairs and into the building, talking into a microphone on his shoulder. A car horn honked, and a siren sounded in the distance, followed by another, and another. Harvey frowned.

Just then, he heard someone calling his name breathlessly, and turned his head to see Rick hurrying toward him.

“Harvey! Gary has a gun. He and Mike are in the men’s room. I didn’t know what to do. I called 911 and told the guard at the front desk.”

Harvey’s mouth had gone dry as he tried to process everything that Rick had just said. “Mike … and Gary?”

“Gary was raging, out of control. He accused Mike of all sorts of things. I didn’t understand most of it. I would have stayed, really, I would have, but Gary pointed the gun at me. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, Rick.” It wasn’t fine, but he needed Rick to calm down. “Take a breath. That’s it. And another. Good. Now do me a favor. See that silver Lexus?” He pointed down the steps.

“Sure.”

“Evan Smith is inside. Go down there and tell her what’s happened. Try to keep the panic out of your voice when you do it. Understand?”

Rick nodded solemnly and ran down the stairs, for once showing a certain amount of grace, in that he didn’t trip over his own feet and tumble to the bottom.

Harvey doubted that Evan would attempt to interfere. Hell, for all he knew, Evan had put Gary up to it. His main objective in sending Rick to her was to give him a task to do, and keep his impending hysteria at bay.

Setting aside his own fear for the moment, Harvey strode to the front door of the building and opened it, but was prevented from entering by one of the security guards, who held a hand out.

“Sir, we’re in lockdown. Kindly move away from the building.”

“What’s going on in there?”

“We’re not … We think it’s a hostage situation.”

Harvey’s stomach dropped at this confirmation of his worst fear – or second worst. “Look, I know the hostage. I know both of the men involved. Would you let me talk to them?”

The guard’s expression hardened, and Harvey realized he would have to go full Closer on him. Before he could begin, he heard clicking heels behind him, growing rapidly nearer. Evan appeared at his side, barely breathing hard after running up the steps of the courthouse in her three-inch heels. The guard gave her the same warning he’d given Harvey, although with only half the aggression, and a hint of elevator eyes.

By now the sirens were about a block away. Harvey guessed that if he and Evan didn’t get inside before the police arrived, the situation would spiral beyond their control.

“I need to talk to my associate.”

“Not gonna happen. We’re only trying to keep you safe, sir.

“I’m told he – they – are in the men’s room. I won’t go inside. I can talk to him from the hallway.”

Evan spoke up. “And I’m going in with him. Apparently, the fool with the gun is mine.”

“Ma’am …

“It’s Ms.” Evan gave the guards a dazzling smile. “Wouldn’t you like this situation resolved before the police get here? Why let them have all the credit?”

“I don’t know …”

“You do know,” said Harvey. “You also know that if we can defuse the situation, you might not have to spend the next eight hours explaining how someone with a gun got past your metal detector.”

Tired of arguing, he shouldered past the first guard, half-expecting him to put up resistance. He might have done so, but Evan was right behind him, squeezing the man’s arm, and giving him a limpid, pleading look. Harvey kept moving, not giving the guards time to realize what a bad idea this was, and made straight for the men’s room, with Evan at his heels.

They stopped in front of the swinging door. Harvey put a finger to his lips, and they listened for a few seconds. Someone inside the room was speaking, but their voice was too low to hear the words, or even determine for sure who it was. Harvey debated the wisdom of simply barging in. Evan had already come to her own conclusions. She elbowed her way past Harvey before he had chance to react, and entered the room.

“Gary,” she said sharply. “Put that down.”

Harvey was half a step behind her. As he cleared the doorway, his eyes widened. Gary had Mike backed up against the wall, with one hand on his shoulder. His other hand held a small revolver, probably a .38, and he had it pressed to the base of Mike’s throat. Mike’s frightened eyes darted to Harvey, and back to Gary, who was crying, his face contorted.

Harvey held out one hand, palm forward, in a placating gesture. From the corner of his eye, he saw that Evan was doing the same thing.

“Listen to me, Gary,” she said, her voice surprisingly gentle. “Sweetheart, you don’t have to do this. Please put the gun down.”

“Why? So I won’t hurt your precious Mike?”

“Yes, that, but also so you don’t throw your entire life away because of one temporary disappointment.”

“You never wanted me. The only the reason you chose me is because when you turn the lights down, you can pretend I’m him.”

He shoved the gun more firmly into Mike’s throat for emphasis, causing him to flinch. Harvey made an abortive move towards them, but Evan restrained him with a hand on his arm.

“Maybe at first,” she said. “Then I got to know you, and to see what a good, sweet boy you are.”

Gary let out a desperate sounding sob. “But not like him, right? Never as good as your perfect Mike.” He jabbed the gun at him again, then dragged the barrel up his neck to his temple. “How perfect will he be with his brains decorating the wall?”

Mike shut his eyes. Harvey saw him swallow hard.

When Evan laughed, Harvey turned to glare at her, incredulous. Was she trying to incite him?

She said, “Perfect? Mike? Where on earth did you get that idea? He was the worst behaved sub I ever had. I had to fire him as my associate because he defied me in open court. Surely you know all this. Mike is about as far from perfect as a person can be.” She took one slow step toward Gary and Mike. When Gary didn’t react, she took another. “Baby, you’re the one I want, not Mike. Don’t do this, okay?”

Gary bit his lip, and his tears fell harder. “Don’t lie to me,” he grated. “You think I’m stupid, but I’m not.”

“I don’t think that at all.” Two more careful steps, and she was within arm’s reach of him. “But I do think you’re forgetting who is in charge here.”

Harvey stayed completely still. Would Gary respond to this tactic, or would it only anger him? He got his answer when Gary continued staring at Evan, eyes wide, and the barrel of the gun dropped several inches, so that it was no longer pointing directly at Mike, but at the wall behind him.

Evan’s eyes gleamed, as if she was enjoying this new challenge. She edged closer and placed her hand on Gary’s back. His eyes drifted shut, and he bowed his head.

“That’s right, sweetheart,” she murmured, “everything is going to be all right.”

Seeing his opening, Harvey held his breath and moved up on Gary, quick and stealthy. Meeting Mike’s eyes, he reached for the gun and snatched it out of Gary’s lax grip. Instead of reacting how he’d thought he would, with anger and violence, Gary collapsed against Evan, arms tight around her neck as he sobbed against her. Seconds later, he dropped to his knees on the grimy floor and clung to her thighs.

The door burst open, revealing police in SWAT gear, who swarmed inside, filling up the small space. Harvey still held the gun, and before he could explain why, he was surrounded, the gun ripped from his grasp, and then he found himself face down on the floor, with his hands cuffed behind his back.

The faint stink of urine and disinfectant filled his nostrils. He listened to Mike and Evan talking over one another trying to explain the situation to the police. Harvey didn’t speak. Let them sort it out. He was too busy keeping his face off the floor and willing his heart to slow its frantic thudding.

Eventually, they uncuffed him and helped him to his feet. Evan and Gary were gone, led out by the police earlier, Gary to be booked, and Evan to act as his attorney. He found Mike out in the hallway, giving his statement to one of the police officers. His gaze sought out Harvey, and he gave him a brief, apologetic smile.

Harvey’s answering smile felt stiff and fake. He was trembling all over, he realized, and lifted his gaze to the ceiling, inhaling several deep breaths. A hand touched his shoulder, and he jumped.

“Sir? Mr. … Specter, is it?”

A police detective stood in front of him, her badge clipped to a pocket of her suit coat.

“You’re not going to tackle me again, are you?” he asked, eying her with caution.

“I need to take your statement.”

He would have rather collected Mike and gotten them the hell out of here, but he knew the drill. He nodded. “Ask me anything.”

 

******

 

By the time the police were finished with them, and they’d waded through the press outside the courthouse, and returned to the firm to debrief Jessica and Louis and Donna, and had a drink to calm their nerves, it was after seven. Harvey was more than ready to go home and collapse. Mike looked to be in the same state.

As Ray drove them home, he glanced in the rearview mirror every few seconds, as if to reassure himself that they were all right, until Harvey politely asked him to keep his eyes on the road. While in the car, he confined himself to holding Mike’s hand loosely in one of his own. Neither spoke until Ray dropped them off and they were upstairs, coats off, ties loosened, and fresh drinks in their hands.

“Bit of a day,” observed Harvey drily as they settled together on the couch.

Make snorted softly. They lapsed into silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

“Well,” Mike began, “that was – ” at the same time Harvey said, “She was wrong.”

Mike stared at him. “What?”

“Evan. She told Gary you weren’t perfect, but she couldn’t be more wrong.” He slid closer to Mike and wrapped an arm around him. Mike relaxed against him, head on his shoulder. “You are perfect.”

Warm breath puffed against Harvey’s neck as Mike laughed. “Hardly.”

“I know I’ve said it already, but I’ll say it again. I love you.”

“Jesus. You’re allowed to say it more than once, you know.”

“I lo – ”

“I mean, don’t over do it. Don’t devalue the word.”

Harvey finished his drink, took Mike’s glass from him, and finished the few drops in that too. He placed both glasses on the coffee table. “So many rules.”

Another snort from Mike. “Welcome to my world.”

Harvey shut his eyes, leaned his head against the back of the couch, and smiled when he felt Mike lie down and rest his head on his thigh. “You were great in court today.” He dug his fingers into Mike’s hair, massaging his scalp. “I’m a pretty smart guy, hiring you like that.”

“Oh, so even when I do well, you get the credit?”

“You’re a reflection of me, so … yeah.”

Harvey had only meant to tease him, to soothe some of the strain of the past few hours, but he felt Mike tense up.

“Do you think – ” Mike began, but stopped. He sighed and tried again. “I can’t help but wonder if I hadn’t gotten free of Evan … if that could have been me in Gary’s place.”

“Never.”

“You don’t think so? How can you know that? What if I hadn’t met you?”

“I know you, and I’m betting everything would have gone down the same, except that if I hadn’t been there to offer you a job, you might have ended up working at some not-for-profit legal clinic.”

Mike nodded against his leg, appearing thoughtful. “I’d actually been considering going that route before Evan found me. The thought of working for some evil, corporation-fellating Manhattan law firm kind of made my skin crawl.”

“Hey.” He gave Mike’s hair a quick tug, and then resumed petting him.

“Ouch. And no offense. Now that I know that I can actually do some good at a place like that, I suppose I could settle in, stay awhile. The paycheck doesn’t hurt.”

“I hate to break it to you, but not all of our cases are like Gilhart. Very few are, in fact. Think you can live with that?”

Mike didn’t answer right away, taking so long that Harvey began to grow worried. Finally, he lifted his head so that he could look Harvey in the eyes. “Actually, I heard about this Manhattan real estate developer who cut corners in three of his apartment towers …”

“Mike, no. Forget it.”

“But those tenants need our help.”

“If you’re talking about who I think you are, he’s one of our clients, so no.”

“And I’ve been reading about these for-profit prisons, and how they abuse the prisoners.”

“Allegedly abuse.”

“Everything is alleged until the verdict comes in.”

“Class action suits are money and energy sucking pits.”

“Pearson Specter Litt made bank on the Gilhart settlement.”

“Nevertheless …”

Mike sat up and climbed into Harvey’s lap, grinding seductively against him. “I bet I could make you change your mind.”

“New rule: no using sex to get your way at work.”

Mike kissed his neck, just under his ear, and began unbuckling his belt. “I would never.” He reached down Harvey’s pants and began stroking him.

“Shit,” gasped Harvey, growing instantly hard. “That’s good.”

“About those prisons …” Sliding to the floor, Mike sucked the head of Harvey’s cock into his mouth.

Harvey groaned, cradling Mike’s head in his palms. “One do-gooder case per year.”

A wet popping sound as Mike pulled off and grinned up at Harvey. “Great, I’ll get started tomorrow.”

“No, you just had your case. In a year, we can discuss – Ahhh …”

Mike had swallowed him all the way down, cheeks hollowing, tongue working him furiously.

“Goddamn it. Fine. Whatever you want. Just keep doing what you’re doing. Don’t ever stop.”

 

**The End.**

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
